The challenge of changing healthcare systems

Healthcare systems are in flux throughout the world. Traditional structures and attitudes are changing. The balance of power between political bodies, payers, providers and patients is being destabilised. New approaches by governments and forward integration by drug companies and payers into care management are all major changes from the past. In the future, healthcare providers, particularly hospitals, will have to complement medical with business skills to survive in a more competitive environment. Experience shows that there is major potential for improvement in terms of radical rethinking of how care is provided (e.g. at least a 30% reduction in hospital days per insured life together with quality-of-care improvements). In particular, the economic value of changes in treatment (e.g. ambulatory surgery, switch to home therapy) should be understood and optimised. In a new world scenario, payers and providers will shape the healthcare environment by introducing novel approaches and integrating healthcare delivery. This process, coupled with the introduction of new approaches to competition and risk sharing by the government, could cause the emergency of high performance and more cost-effective healthcare systems.