Most health care leaders believe the industry evolved during the pandemic

The last few years have seen major changes for many stakeholders in the health care industry. A new report from Optum details how health care leaders have responded to these challenges.

The last few years have seen major changes for many stakeholders in the health care industry. A  new report from Optum details how health care leaders have responded to these challenges. Pulling data from 153 leaders, the report asked executives to evaluate where the industry has made progress in recent years and where it still needs to improve.

A majority of leaders surveyed (76%) said their company has evolved when it comes to infrastructure innovation and modernization, for example, simplifying administrative overhead. Meanwhile, 65% said care delivery innovation improved in the last year, including implementing more virtual health and in-home care. Similarly, 59% of those surveyed said steps such as creating new partnerships had helped create improvement when it comes to health ecosystem innovation. 

The generation of new partnerships was particularly important last year in helping reduce supply chain disruptions and other shortages faced by health care companies, the report found.

Other results were less promising, including consumer engagement and experience, which only 52% of leaders said had improved in the past year. Likewise, 52% of respondents said data and analytics maturity had advanced, a figure that might reflect the challenges of analyzing data from new sources like virtual care visits. Finally, care payment and funding evolution saw the least signs of progress, with only 48% of leaders saying that strides had been made in that area. More complex and slower-moving payment systems due to the combination of value-based arrangements and fee-for-service models may contribute to this lower level of progress, according to the report.

When asked about their greatest challenges, most leaders cited supply chain disruption, price transparency, and growth, with new market disruptors and improving health equity rounding out the top five concerns.

When it comes to investing in the future, leaders said they plan to prioritize new products and services as well as consumer acquisition and retention going forward. Additionally, leaders aim to continue to build partnerships to strengthen their positions and reduce the challenges that face them. 

Moving forward, the report suggests improved use of data analytics, new metrics for consumer engagement, and cross-platform integration and consolidation can all help health care companies continue to evolve.

“The past year has offered leaders a window of time to observe how products and digital solutions can be integrated to create personalized, high-performing consumer experiences,” the report says. “Even as the pandemic appears to be subsidizing, the industry is becoming more complex. Leaders acknowledge that improvements against business as normal is not sustainable. They see the need to use these new innovations to transform.”