Changes in health care happen with each administration, each economic upturn or downturn, and with the demographics of the nation. Here are seven trends in health care to watch if you’re in the field or considering a health care career.
1. AI in Health Care
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is ubiquitous across all industries, and health care is no exception. In fact, its possible effects on health care were acknowledged by the White House in a December 2023 brief, which lays out the Biden administration’s commitment to ensuring AI is used safely and responsibly when it comes to Americans’ health.
“The adoption of AI in health care is a vital trend that has the potential to revolutionize patient care, improve clinical outcomes, and enhance the efficiency of health care delivery,” says Vincent Agboto, PhD, Health Sciences Graduate Programs faculty member. “AI-powered technologies can analyze vast amounts of medical data, assisting clinicians in diagnosing diseases earlier, personalizing treatment plans, and optimizing health care workflows.”
Additionally, AI can automate routine tasks, facilitate remote monitoring, and accelerate drug discovery processes, enabling more accessible, cost-effective, and patient-centered care, according to an article in the Future Healthcare Journal.
However, the adoption of AI in health care also raises ethical, regulatory, and privacy concerns.
“These concerns must be addressed to ensure the responsible and equitable deployment of these technologies for the benefit of patients and society as a whole,” says Agboto.
2. Health Equity
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “equity is the absence of unfair, avoidable or remediable differences among groups of people, whether those groups are defined socially, economically, demographically, or geographically or by other dimensions of inequality (e.g., sex, gender, ethnicity, disability, or sexual orientation).”
While health equity has been discussed and researched for quite some time, it was the COVID-19 pandemic that “further exposed an inequity in accessing health care among different populations, which has led to health outcome disparities among groups from different socioeconomic backgrounds,” according to an editorial in the journal Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research.
“Health equity needs to be addressed,” says Lynne Armstead, DHEd, Health Sciences Graduate Programs faculty member. “Currently, we do not live in a society where everyone is given the same quality of care or an equal opportunity to lead their healthiest lives.”
In public health, health equity is a concept that allows everyone — despite their social, cultural, educational, or economic background — to be afforded the opportunity to achieve their highest level of health.
“For example, when developing interventions geared toward improving diabetes outcomes in two populations, one rural and low income and the other suburban and wealthy, it would not be beneficial to create a single intervention to implement in both,” says Donielle Hyde, PhD, Health Sciences Undergraduate Programs faculty member. “This is because the health care needs in the rural population may be different than in the suburban [one].”
Applying health equity to this scenario, public health officials would need to evaluate the social determinants of health in each group (i.e., access to adequate care, resources available, health literacy of patients, etc.). Doing this would allow public health officials to tailor interventions to the needs of each population, ensuring that the resources are divided adequately, the needs of each particular population are being met, and any other barriers to receiving care are addressed.
3. Rising Health Care Costs
A 2024 survey of health insurers by consulting firm WTW found that the cost of medical care benefits in the U.S. is projected to increase 8.9% in 2024, which is slightly higher than the 8.2% increase in 2023. And Americans are getting concerned. In fact, a poll by independent research firm KFF found that the majority of registered voters feel “lowering out-of-pocket health care costs for people” is the top health care priority that the country needs to address.
“Increased cost means health equity is further from our reach,” says Armstead. “It also puts people at risk for not being able to afford treatment they need.”
This is backed up by another KFF poll, which found that one in four insured adults has postponed getting needed health care due to costs, while one in six uninsured adults has done the same. Additionally, one in five adults has not filled a prescription because they couldn’t afford it.
“I’ve worked with patients who required insulin to treat their diabetes but had to choose between buying the insulin or food,” Armstead says. “This ties into social determinants of health issues that are an obstacle to leading a healthy life.”
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, social determinants of health (SDOH) “are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has made SDOH a focus area of its Healthy People 2030 initiative. One objective is to help people earn enough steady income to afford health care.
4. The Aging of the U.S. Population
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 22% of the population will be at least 65 years or older by 2040. That is a 5% increase in 20 years.
The use of both health care and professional caregiver services increases as the population ages, and most older adults have at least one chronic health condition. Unfortunately, their increased need for health care services is running head-on into a health care workforce shortage and increasing medical costs, creating a societal issue, Armstead says.
“A significant number of patients that fall into this age group are dealing with social determinants of health issues or loneliness that impact their ability to lead a healthy life,” she explains. “Due to their age, many require caretakers or need assistance in other ways.”
But if older adults have a low income, they can’t afford those services and are more likely to have disabilities and die younger, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s in part why the department has made healthy aging a national health initiative.
5. Health Care Workforce Shortages
According to Deloitte, projections show that the global health care sector is facing a shortfall of 10 million workers by 2030, while the demand for health care workers is set to increase by 29% in the next 10 years. And while some people blame the COVID-19 pandemic for being a cause of the shortage, the shortage of health care workers has “been a known issue for over a decade,” according to an article in the Delaware Journal of Public Health.
The workforce shortage in the health care system can inhibit access to quality care. It can also lead to longer wait times to be treated in emergency departments, make it more difficult to get appointments with a primary care provider, and lead to an overworked and exhausted staff.
It also has led to increased costs for hospitals and health systems. Since they have had to rely on contract staffing firms to offset the shortage, their contract labor expenses grew 258% from 2019 to 2022, according to the American Hospital Association.
While the workforce shortage has been a growing issue, “the pandemic showcased the need for workers, especially those that are experienced and adequately trained,” says Hyde. “Hospitals and emergency departments did not have the resources or the manpower to address the needs of patients, especially if their symptoms weren’t severe enough for further treatment.”
Burnout has been one of the leading causes of the labor shortage, and the industry is taking notice. Studies have focused on how to decrease burnout, and health care executives are saying they’re focused on helping their workers with their mental health and well-being, according to Deloitte.
6. Increased Mergers and Acquisitions
While mergers and acquisitions in hospitals and health systems slowed down during the pandemic, the numbers have rebounded with 65 mergers and acquisitions announced in 2023 alone. Some of this includes health care organizations combining with non-traditional industries such as tech to come up with new ways to meet patient needs. However, these business moves can cause stress for employees.
“Mergers and acquisitions cause disruption for employees and, in some cases, the community members the organization serves,” Armstead says. “While there are times these transactions yield a stronger entity in the end, there are also costs.”
For example, outside of teaching, Armstead has a full-time position with another organization. When that organization was acquired at the end of December, she had to let go of half of her team.
“While in the end, the new company will be stronger and able to help more patients, there have been some bumps along the road,” she says.
These mergers and acquisitions can lead to better patient outcomes in the long run, but in the interim, health care professionals need to ensure patients don’t fall through the cracks.
7. Evolving Mental Health Needs
Among the many issues the pandemic brought to light are the mental health issues caused by a lack of social connectivity. According to a study commissioned by The Cigna Group, 58% of U.S. adults are considered lonely.
In his 2023 report Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy highlighted concerns about loneliness, such as a decrease in connectivity and the ways this impacts health for the individual and society.
“The mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity,” Murthy wrote.
While loneliness can have a negative effect on physical health, poor physical health can also make people more susceptible to it. The Cigna study found that adults with physical health issues are about 50% more likely to be lonely than those in good health.
Murthy wrote that the mobilization of the health sector is a core pillar of the national strategy to advance social connection. This includes educating health care providers on the health benefits of social connection, incentivizing providers to educate patients as part of preventive care, and expanding public health surveillance and interventions.
