Anticipated Community-Based Healthcare Trends in 2023

As we move one year further out from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare arena continues to shift. What are the anticipated trends for 2023, and why does this matter for community hospitals? 

Staffing and Workforce Issues

It appears that staffing shortages are here to stay through the end of 2023. Demand is particularly high for professionals such as nurses, unit coordinators, and technicians.

Potential reasons for the shortages include the commonly mentioned issues of burnout and increased turnover. With an estimated 20 percent of healthcare workers leaving the field during the pandemic, this continued shortage should come as no surprise.

Community hospitals can plan to help address the shortage in several ways. It is easiest to start by retaining existing staff as opposed to recruiting new staff. Hospitals have been creative in their efforts to work with staff and combat shortages by offering flexible schedules and leave policies to employees and creating new staffing roles. Additionally, many are prioritizing investments in employee mental health and well-being.

Data Use for Coordinating Care Improvements
Electronic health records (EHR) have been useful in increasing accessibility of healthcare records and ensuring universally available data. As we enter 2023, there will be added emphasis on changing the way we approach technology to make care more patient-centered.

Data does little good if it cannot be converted to useful information to create meaningful change. The ability to combine data from various sources offers the opportunity to dive deeper for added insights – and the increased emphasis placed on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) tools will help manage and process the colossal amount of data efficiently. Community hospitals can use AI to implement evidence-based practices, where patient preferences are taken into account with a combination of provider expertise and best available evidence.

Another major trend community hospitals can use to improve care is remote patient monitoring (RPM) services, which provide real-time data on vitals, blood glucose levels, weight, and more. These services can help reduce the number of in-person visits and streamline the care process.

Data Security

The growth in global data continues to explode and is anticipated to grow more than twelve-fold between 2015 and 2025 to an astounding 181 zetabytes. Our industry is rightly expressing growing concern over data security, especially considering how much of it is available and the sensitive nature of the data itself.

Some healthcare entities are discussing the potential to tackle this security concern in 2023 through blockchain technology, which helps make digital records “transparent, authenticated, and unchangeable” while offering secure data sharing.

While some data security efforts may seem overwhelming to smaller community hospitals, they can still benefit from changing their approach to risk analysis by focusing more on identifying devices with old operating systems and software that may be more susceptible to attack. In addition there are opportunities via security assessments to find and address potential weak points or through partnership with a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO), who can regularly assess security measures.

Improving Patient Engagement

One of the big questions in healthcare lately has been, “how can we better motivate the patient to become involved in the care process?” Better engagement of patients can improve outcomes and quality of life.

As mentioned, we expect to see more of a focus on engagement consumables such as wearable devices and apps, which will experience mass projected growth. A greater emphasis on equipping patients with the proper knowledge and technological tools to manage the clinical, financial, and administrative facets of their care will also be useful for community hospitals in 2023.

Ensure a Better 2023 with TPC
The healthcare industry is constantly evolving. At TPC, we provide Members with a network of support and a selection of options to help them stay ahead of current trends and succeed throughout the challenges they face. Your community hospital can benefit from our services starting in 2023 and beyond. Learn more about how TPC can support you and how we’re “Stronger Together” by contacting us today.

TPC Membership Leadership Thrives Again in a Challenging Year

TPC constantly strives to provide our Members with the very best solutions for their business needs – and this past year was no different. Twenty twenty-two found the healthcare community nationwide having to overcome serious hurdles. But after a year replete with formidable challenges, we wanted to highlight some of our greatest accomplishments.

2022 Challenges

The year began with significant decreases in hospitals’ revenue which put considerable stress on margins in facilities across the country. And as with many industries, hospitals struggled with supply chain constraints, which teams monitored closely to avoid disruptions in patient care. Staffing resources continued to be a persistent concern. The industry’s ongoing labor shortage put a strain on hospitals’ limited resources in clinical and non-clinical areas, and the increase in demand drove up costs which in many cases were beyond budgeted numbers. While leaders evaluated alternative solutions, such as outsourcing, they were mindful of impact to quality and performance. All of these challenges kept hospitals cautious as they explored numerous approaches to stabilize the conditions.

driving superior results

As with any other time, TPC supported our independent, community-based hospitals as they worked together through their challenges to reduce cost and increase revenue. By way of TPC’s operational, financial, and clinical programs, Members persisted and were able to achieve more than $65 million in total value in 2022.

The biggest wins include:

• Supply Chain: Exam Gloves, Pharmacy Distribution, Interventional Cardiology and Surgical Mesh

• Revenue Cycle: Vendor Management, Managed Care Best Practices and Clinical Documentation Improvement

• Purchased Services: Capital Equipment, Pharmacy Benefits Manager and Electricity Procurement

 In another year full of challenges, these wins represent the resilience of our Members. They demonstrate how, despite continuing supply chain issues and staff shortages, TPC was able to work together with Members to identify and implement effective margin-improving initiatives.

2022 TPC Committee Chairs –
Thank You for Your Strong Leadership!

We cannot thank our Members enough for consistent achievements in such a difficult times. Through collaboration and meeting objectives, Members made 2022 another successful year.

We want to extend appreciation to those Member leaders that helped guide us all through our supply chain, performance improvement, purchases services, and revenue cycle management programs.

Our 2022 TPC Member Leadership 

Advisory Board: Phyllis Cowling (URHCS) and Shane Plymell (SMC)

Executive Steering Committee: Jeremy Walker (HH)

Clinical Steering Committee: Pam Bradshaw (SMC) and Susan Greenwood (HH)

Supply Chain Council: Julia Blanchard (BH) and Adam Wood (HH)

Cardiology CVAT: Michele Pierski (BH) and Denise Hessler (SEH)

Laboratory CVAT: Deena Todd (HCM) and Kyle Cooper (HH)

Medical/Wound Care CVAT: Stephanie Free (BH)

Perioperative CVAT: Tara Hinojosa (MMH) and Heather Hess (HH)

Pharmacy CVAT: Nathan Wooten (URHCS) and Stephanie McCann (SMC)

Revenue Cycle Council: Tave Kelly (HH) and Jeri Kaspar (URHCS)

CDI Council: Delana Johnson (SMC)

Committed Insurance Program: Heather Hormel (URHCS)

HR Executive Taskforce: Roberta Solorio (MMH)

Physcian Enterprise Management: David Stephenson (HH)

Quality Advisory Team: Shelley Moser (URCHS) and Nancy Hill (MMH)

 Key Points:

•  Twenty twenty-two presented more challenges for healthcare, especially related to declines in revenue.

•  TPC Members were able find big wins in supply chain, revenue cycle, and purchased services.

•  Member collaboration has led to great success for all of us.

TPC Receives Stryker’s Prestigious Environmental Excellence Award for Reprocessing Efforts in 2021

Like many hospital systems across the nation, TPC is focused on growing our sustainability programs to reduce the environmental footprint of our delivery of care.

One of the most impactful initiatives we are pursuing is the reprocessing and remanufacturing of single-use medical devices. This allows us to recycle and reuse single-use medical devices that would otherwise end up in landfills. Participating in this program enables us to divert much of our hospital waste away from local landfills. Our reprocessing partner, Stryker’s Sustainability Solutions division, collect the devices from our facilities and then inspect, clean, function test, sterilize and package them for safe reuse by following strict FDA guidelines.

Because of our Members’ strong waste diversion efforts in 2021, TPC was awarded Stryker’s Bronze Environmental Excellence Award. In total, 49,747 lbs of medical device waste was successfully diverted from landfills. Thanks to all our Members who make this program such a success and allow us to reduce our impact on the environment.

Broad healthcare sustainability is a journey. Our reprocessing and remanufacturing programs are just one way we are demonstrating our commitment to quality healthcare.