Technology is revolutionizing every other part of our lives, and now healthcare is getting into the game. Here are five trends to watch:
1. Care is becoming more seamless with electronic health records. Issues with interoperability will change at the public and private level as the system evolves.
2. Digital tools are becoming more widespread, and things like e-visits and prescribing via apps could become part of doing business in the future.
3. The price of specialty drugs will become a huge point of discussion. The prices could lower in the future, but will remain difficult to cover today.
4. Spreading patient knowledge and control of their healthcare experience will become more popular. Services like ZocDoc allow patients to review doctors they’ve seen and schedule upcoming appointments while transparency on Open Payments websites show patients what their physicians are paid for their involvement with which companies.
5. Bundled payments are becoming more popular, which allow patients and payers to sign on for one lump sum. They’ll know what they have to pay upfront, which takes some of the surprise out of bills in the future.
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