The global healthcare market is rapidly growing and is expected to reach $44,760.73 billion by 2032. From primary care to life saving treatments, healthcare offers end to end medical care globally. However, this rapidly evolving sector has undergone various changes, especially in technology, regulations, and medical care. There are many challenges in healthcare industry that every individual faces who is interacting with the old forms of medical practice. In this blog, we have covered 10 significant challenges that the healthcare industry is facing. And why every healthcare organization needs to be aware of.
10 Challenges in Healthcare Industry Faced By Users
1. Telehealth
When COVID hits, there is a significant change in the healthcare world. The world has shifted from in person to virtual visits and using technology to deliver medical care. Doctors and patients have consultations over video calls or live chats. And this has become so convenient that even after COVID. Most people prefer telehealth as a more convenient option. However, this new telehealth adoption comes with a challenge. Because not all patients, especially from rural or underserved areas. Who has access to technology and devices to utilize telehealth services?
2. Slow Clinical Workflows
Another major challenge in the healthcare sector is slow clinical workflows. There are various operations in healthcare, including scheduling, documentation, and managing patient records, which are getting slow over time due to outdated systems and operations. With growing technological advancement. Healthcare organizations need to replace manual operations with technology. Which helps to streamline workflows and use software to automate tasks more efficiently.
3. Regulatory Changes
The healthcare software development industry is the most regulated. Where regulations and rules are mandatory for every healthcare organization and clinic to follow. Some standard healthcare regulations like HIPAA and GDPR are required to follow. Plus, the government made frequent updates in regulations that healthcare organizations need to stay updated. So, staying updated with frequently changing regulations can be another challenging task for organizations. If healthcare organizations are not able to follow the rules, they will face hefty fines and legal issues.
4. Rising Costs and Inflation
There is significant financial pressure on the healthcare industry with rising costs and inflation. Healthcare services are getting more expensive for several reasons, such as higher prices for medicines, medical supplies, and labour. Medicines are getting more expensive because of new treatments and limited price control, medical supplies cost more due to new technology and supply chain problems, and healthcare worker's wages are rising due to shortages and higher benefits.
5. Cybersecurity
With the advancement of digitalization. Healthcare organizations are utilizing technologies to store sensitive patient information. However, growing digitalization also increases the risk of cyber attacks. These attacks can leak patient-sensitive data and affect the organization’s finances and reputation. So, healthcare organizations need to understand the growing risk of cyberattacks and ensure robust security compliance to protect against cyber attacks.
6. Provider Shortages
Another big challenge is the shortage of qualified workers in healthcare. Especially doctors and nurses. As per recent stats, there could be a shortage of up to 124,000 doors by 2034. There are several reasons why many nurses are also thinking of leaving their jobs. Such as stress, high workloads and too many administrative tasks. Additionally, many doctors are getting older and retiring. But there are not enough new doctors to replace them.
7. Invoicing and Payment Processing
The healthcare industry is losing lots of money because of inefficient invoicing and payment processes. This is mainly due to outdated methods of handling tasks leading to the devastation of healthcare industry challenges. Such as checking insurance details, getting approvals and following up on claims. These manual processes take a lot of time and are prone to mistakes. Which leads to delays in payment.
8. Keeping Up with Advance Technology
Healthcare technology is constantly improving and offering innovations like AI driven diagnostics, robotic surgeries, and predictive analytics. These technologies help healthcare improve patient care and are able to integrate with existing systems seamlessly. However, many healthcare organizations are facing challenges in adopting these advanced technologies because of high costs, lack of infrastructure, and resistance to change, which are significant barriers.
9. Price Transparency
Apart from the challenges in healthcare industry users find difficulty in making payments due to a lack of options, another leading explanation of why customers refuse to pay their financial obligation is uncertainty due to a lack of clarity in rates. Because of this, healthcare systems are now opting to make their service rates accessible. Doing so eliminates patient uncertainty and unexpected billing issues. Many patients are now investigating service pricing for different healthcare systems before deciding what clinic they book an appointment with.
10. Low Level of Health Insurance Coverage
One of the biggest problems the healthcare sector faces in the South is the lack of sufficient health insurance for a substantial portion of the population. Despite the constant discussion on the extension of Medicaid coverage, southern states prefer to give their population the least. Individuals in the south of states often tend to have less stable health insurance options. For these issues, hospitals and physicians can not get fair pay for their jobs, and that can lead to problems with medical billing.
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