To say there have been many changes over the past two years would be an understatement. The healthcare industry especially has faced numerous changes and challenges. While we can’t predict exactly what 2022 has in store, there are trends we expect to see this year.
One such trend is the use of predictive analytics, which can help solve a variety of pain points in the healthcare industry. If your organization hasn’t yet taken advantage of the benefits that predictive analytics offers, now is the time to do so.
Here’s a look at trends in healthcare in 2022, and the role that predictive analytics will play.
1. Mental health will be a priority
Mental health is getting worse across the US, according to Mental Health America. The organization’s 2021 State of Mental Health in America report notes the highest levels of depression and anxiety since March 2020. Cigna reported seeing a 27% increase in behavioral health outpatient care in 2020 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
It’s not just patients experiencing mental health struggles. While clinician burnout has always been an issue, it’s worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, Medscape notes in their National Physician Burnout & Suicide Report 2021. The report shows that 42% of physicians reported feeling burnt out in 2020, and 21% of respondents reported their burnout began after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With more people reporting mental health struggles and more people seeking mental health care, we expect to see mental health be a focus for healthcare organizations, health insurance companies, and employers. This may look like payers and employers offering more mental health-related benefits.
Healthcare organizations may use predictive analytics to predict the onset of depression so they can treat patients sooner and more effectively. They can also use predictive analytics to predict surges in the demand for care, enabling them to better plan staffing and resources to help prevent burnout.
2. Organizations will use technology to make healthcare more equitable
Not everyone has the same access to healthcare. People living in rural areas, for example, may have fewer healthcare facilities to choose from than people living in urban areas and maybe farther away from those facilities. The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase in people using telehealth services, which made healthcare more accessible to people regardless of geographic location or socioeconomic status.
In 2022, we expect to see more organizations using technology to make healthcare more equitable.
3. COVID-19 will continue to impact the healthcare industry
With no determined end date for the COVID-19 pandemic, we expect the pandemic to continue impacting the healthcare industry in 2022. We’ve already seen how the pandemic can lead to hospitalizations, overwhelmed facilities and staff, and a reduced ability to provide top-notch care to every patient.
Fortunately, predictive analytics can help healthcare organizations predict and prepare for changing care-related needs. Lumiata’s predictive analytics, for example, can predict hospital and ICU admissions and readmissions.
Our insights can also be used to help predict pandemic-related impacts on individual and group costs, calculate COVID-19 incidence by region or hospital system, enhance clinical decision making, and more.
4. There will be more healthcare data to manage
Healthcare data comes from a variety of sources, including MRI and CT scans, X-rays, medical images, EHR notes, handwritten notes, and more. As innovations in healthcare-related technology – such as fitness trackers, smartwatches, and other wearables – continue to emerge, even more data will become available in 2022.
The key to preventing this from becoming overwhelming is to take the data and make it usable for machine learning, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics. Healthcare organizations need a way to organize, cleanse, and draw insights from all of the data so they can make data-informed care-related decisions.
At Lumiata, for example, we help healthcare organizations by bringing their raw data into our ecosystem, where we then assess, validate, normalize, and cleanse the data. We then create “Lumiata Person360” objects, which can be used in machine learning. From here, healthcare organizations can predict clinical and financial risk and make data-driven decisions.
5. Organizations will use data to inform patient care
While increasing amounts of data can feel like a lot to handle, it can be extremely valuable when the data is properly managed. Organizations can use actionable insights from the data to inform decision-making and patient care, and we expect to see more of this in 2022.
For example, healthcare providers can use data from fitness trackers and other wearables to provide patients with more effective care. Wearables also encourage patients to be more engaged in their health and care.
Integrated diagnostics is another area where organizations are making use of valuable insights. When an organization has a connected system, different types of data – such as imaging, laboratory, and more – are combined and accessible by different departments in the organization. When everyone who plays a role in a patient’s care is able to access that patient’s health data, everyone can make better-informed decisions and provide patient-centric care.
Predictive analytics can also use the growing amount of data to make accurate clinical and financial predictions. For example, healthcare providers can use Lumiata’s predictive analytics to forecast disease onset within the next 12 months. This empowers providers to intervene sooner and provide care based on a patient’s specific risk factors. Payers can use predictive analytics to predict high-cost claims and members, which can help them set optimal pricing.
About Lumiata’s predictive analytics
Think of Lumiata as your crystal ball: we predict the future of claims, claimants, and care. Focused solely on healthcare, our predictive analytics tools generate actionable insights for the cost and care sides of your business.
On the cost side, we predict costs, group costs, cohorts, and individual claims.
On the care side, we predict the onset and progression of more than 150 diseases as well as when claims will occur. We can also help SaaS and services companies by incorporating predictive analytics into their existing products and services.
Want to learn more about how predictive analytics can help your organization in 2022?