The challenge of staff shortages in healthcare continues to remain persistent in the United States. To help mitigate what could be a long-term challenge, according to an article in TIME, institutions are staffing facilities with temporary health professionals due to rising turnover, fluctuations in demand, and evolving appreciation for work-life balance. Fortunately, in this dynamic healthcare landscape, some technologies continue to evolve, offering solutions to help address these ongoing staff shortages.
Let’s outline five trends that can help augment caregiver capacity, reduce burnout, and result in increased productivity, speed, and accuracy for staff.
Trend #1: Autonomous Coding
One prominent trend that is emerging in healthcare technology is autonomous coding. This solution utilizes artificial intelligence to automate the coding process, helping to reduce the burden on healthcare professionals. According to the HFMA, automating routine coding tasks can help enhance accuracy, minimize the potential for human-introduced errors, and speed up processes, allowing more time for patient care. NYM Health is one solution that fully automates the coding process.
Trend #2: Remote Patient Monitoring
Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is continuing to gain traction. RPM claim volume has increased by 1,294 percent from January 2019 to November 2022, according to a report by Definitive Healthcare. That being said, we can expect to see RPM used as a pivotal tool for helping to expand caregiver capacity. While busy taking care of patients in the office and trying to manage patients’ complex needs and care coordination out of the office, clinicians can get overwhelmed. RPM helps practitioners remotely monitor vital signs, chronic conditions, and more, extending their reach beyond traditional care settings.
AI will continue to improve a key aspect of RPM – clinical decision support. In the future, RPM platforms will use AI to make sense of physiological data and support clinician decision-making that will ultimately improve patient outcomes while simultaneously driving down the cost of care.
Rimidi, for example, brings together remote patient monitoring tools, patient-reported outcomes, and clinical decision support to help clinicians enhance patient care. Its cloud-based software platform is integrated with a broad range of connected medical devices, including cellular and Bluetooth-enabled blood-glucose meters, scales, blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters, insulin dosing pens, and continuous glucose monitors.
Trend #3: Telehealth
Telehealth has become integral within the healthcare landscape, and it is expected to grow even more in the future. By leveraging telehealth, providers can reach a broader patient base and positively impact the revenue cycle. We can expect to see telehealth use cases continue to expand to the home, long-term care, and community outreach through Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) to help improve the health equity of the populations they serve.
Trend #4: Revenue Cycle Management
We can see Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) emerge as a vital component for big and small healthcare organizations. RCM can help healthcare facilities identify, manage, and collect patient revenue. RCM software and services that employ AI will become more accessible to smaller, independent practices. This will allow these practices to better compete against large and more capitalized healthcare entities with data scientists.
Trend #5: Hiring & Recruitment Technologies
Using solutions that harness data to help build employer branding and streamline the hiring process will continue to be a focus in the industry. Today’s patients vet potential employers the same way they are being vetted throughout the recruitment process. By utilizing recruiting technologies, healthcare providers can build the foundation for recruiting and hiring in the long term. Using simplified solutions such as resume sorters can fill a practice’s inbox with unqualified candidates. Solutions can help ensure a practice finds candidates that have the right skills and cultural fit by creating application sites and collecting data and insights to determine what is working and what could be done better.
In conclusion, 2024 and beyond will be driven by technological advances that help to address staff shortages, reduce burnout, enhance caregiver capacity, and optimize revenue cycle. Each of these trends can help contribute to a more efficient health system.
About Michael Casamassa
Michael Casamassa joined Henry Schein in 2000 as Project Manager, and was promoted in 2002 to Regional Sales Manager. In 2004 Michael lead the Midwest sales team as General Manager. He then became Vice President of the Medical Field Sales team in 2008, and remained the leader of this team until 2015 when he was given the role of Vice President of Medical Solutions. In this role, Michael was charged with creating a business that delivered value beyond the supply chain. This was accomplished by building a comprehensive, meaningful, and relevant portfolio of solutions that empowered practices to improve in three critical areas: Clinical, Financial, and Operational.
Michael now serves as the Vice President of Sales for Payor Solutions under the Company’s newly formed Home Solutions business. He is responsible for increasing the Company’s relevance with payors, referral sources, and other DME/HME companies.
