Introduction
The healthcare industry has undergone changes in the last one decade. The changes in healthcare have been more than in any other sector in the country. The changes can be attributed to the change in the public’s perception of their health.
The public has taken the issue regarding their health more seriously and thus, it is willing to pay whatever the price to receive good healthcare services. These changes are expected to continue in the next ten coming years with technological changes playing a key role. Therefore, all stakeholders have to keep adapting their skills so that remain relevant in the industry.
Changes in the healthcare industry in the last ten years
In the last one decade, the healthcare industry has undergone tremendous change as it has been pushed by demand to address the vital areas of the industry in the delivery of services. It has looked to address the quality of the healthcare and the cost of the services that are offered by the industry.
The industry has seen the number of people who want better quality services from the health facilities in the country increase. Consequently, the cost of offering the services has escalated to march the change in the quality of the healthcare the country. The change has been witnessed from the administrative to the patient care. This change has been prompted by the changes in the healthcare regulations.
One of the most notable changes in the healthcare industry has been that on the relationship between the physician and the patients. The country has witnessed the number of primary doctors dwindle and thus the time that the physician spends with the customer is less during a hospital visit. This has created the need of alternatives means of delivering the needed healthcare services. The alternative means of delivering the services included the virtual health care services that are available in the internet (Ginter et al, 2002).
Another change that has forced changes in the healthcare industry was the much criticism that the industry was facing from the public pertaining transparency regarding the administrative costs.
The consumers were able to track the healthcare providers through the internet and they were able to compare hospitals, healthcare insurance companies and possible doctors and make their own conclusions. This increase in the public scrutiny through the internet forced the industry to change. The industry is still growing and evolving in order to meet the constantly changing needs of the public (Ginter et al, 2002).
Possible changes in the next ten years
The tremendous changes in the health care industry over the last one decade are expected to continue in the next ten years. The changes basically will include the continuous escalating trend in the cost of providing the healthcare services.
This has been caused by the increased pressure on the pharmaceuticals to improve on the value of their products and consequently transferring the burden to the end consumers in the system.
This will cause the federal government to come up with regulatory guidelines to regulate the operations of the key players in the industry (Amara & Johnson, 2003). Other factors that are expected to cause changes in the healthcare industry include: First, is increased need in healthcare services.
The increase in the aging generation in the country is on the rise. An increase in the number of old people in the country means that the probability of diseases like cancer, diabetes, obesity among other diseases will also be on the rise. This means that the need to have healthcare services will be on the rise. This will constrain the present healthcare system to offer more quality services and as a result force it to change (Amara & Johnson. 2003).
Secondly, the healthcare industry in the next ten years it expects to have more technical developments which will be caused by the advances in the biochemistry industry. This will result in better packages that are tailored so suit the individuals. This will offer the healthcare industry the chance to rejuvenate and be more vibrant in the delivery of services through development of more and better services that will require more elaborate strategies to manage (Amara & Johnson, 2003).
Adaptation skills to evolve along the industry needs
The challenges exhibited by the healthcare industry have forced the key players in the industry like us to adapt to the changes so as to be relevant and continue playing key roles as the industry has continued to evolve over the years. The adaptation will be through keeping up with the technological changes that are occurring in the industry.
Another adaptation will be through creating marketing strategies that will ensure that we have the competitive advantage over our competitors. These marketing strategies must be customer oriented and they must create value to the customers in the most effective manner.
We will also have to realign our skills to conform to the changes in the industry by learning to operate in a more customer friendly way. This means that we will understand our customers more and as a result, offer these customers better services (Blancett and Flarey, 2001).
Change in the healthcare industry in my perception
The healthcare industry in my perception has changed immensely. The changes have occurred in the peoples’ perception of their individual health. People are now more concerned about their health and they are asking for the best healthcare services available in the market for instance, they want the best physician to treat them.
People are, therefore, taking more and more health insurance covers to ensure that their well-being is safeguarded in case they fall sick in the future. This desire by the public to have the best healthcare services has made the industry to be a major business hub that is very profitable. This has attracted a large number of investors rendering the service delivery very expensive.
Role of technology in the healthcare industry
The role of technology in the healthcare industry is crucial. Technology will lead to better clinical information management systems. This means that physicians will be in a position to keep the information of their patients in databases and be able to access it from anywhere. Technology will lead to the development of better software and hardware. This advancement will reciprocate into delivery of better healthcare services (Blancett and Flarey, 2001).
The financial and economic issues that will affect the health care industry in the next 10 years.
The financial status in the country has continue to served and transform the industry in terms of cost and other areas that would make it easier for the Americans to access better healthcare.
The healthcare costs that were registered during 2000 exceeded $2.3 trillion and this signified the escalating rise in the cost of healthcare services in the country is expected to continue in the next ten years (Ginter et al, 2002). This has put some economic constrain on the people as they are now required to use more money for the same healthcare services that they receiving ten years ago.
Conclusion
Therefore, it is evident to conclude that there have been changes in the healthcare industry for the last one decade and these changes are expected to continue taking place in the next ten years. These changes have led to the quality services being offered in the healthcare industry to improve and this has been greatly influenced by the technological advancement in this sector.
References
Amara, R. & Johnson, R., (2003) Health and health care 2010: the forecast, the challenge. New York: Jossey-Bass
Blancett , S., S. & Flarey , D., L. (2001) Health care outcomes: collaborative, path- based approaches. New York: Jones Bartlett Learning
Ginter, M., P., Swayne,. L., E & Duncan., W., J (2002) Strategic management of health care organizations. New York: Wiley-Blackwell