Healthcare executive market research
Leaders innovate to tackle top challenges
WHO WE SURVEYED
300
U.S. healthcare executives
across 5 functions
• Strategy and innovation
• Finance and operations
• Clinical care
• Technology
• People
Tasked with improving care outcomes
and alleviating cost pressures with
limited resources, healthcare executives
are identifying innovative methods for evolving existing business models and creating a more digitally focused and consumer-centric future.
Huron’s longitudinal research tracks
how healthcare executives across five functional areas are responding to
today’s top trends and challenges.
Explore the insights below ↓
Top 10 healthcare trends
Digital advancements top of mind
Digital and technology trends continue to rise compared to previous research, confirming leaders’ belief that navigating healthcare’s future lies in successful digital transformation. Leaders also indicate an increased focus on care access and virtual care delivery as consumer preferences evolve.
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Top trends
This year
3-5 years
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- Technology infrastructure
- Care access transformation
- Digital management and analytics
- Virtual care delivery
- Cost reduction/optimization
- Revenue growth
- Managing health system capacity
- Health equity
- Redesigning workforce
- Supply chain management and modernization
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- Virtual care delivery
- Technology infrastructure
- Revenue growth
- Workforce mental health
- Cost reduction/optimization
- Diagnostic and generative AI
- Care delivery
- Health equity
- Care access transformation
- New economic models
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*Bold = new trend
= change from previous research
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Top 10 healthcare challenges
Leaders grapple with interconnected challenges
Healthcare executives report a wide and even focus on challenges, indicating a clear view of the relationship between care, cost, performance, and growth. Data-informed decision-making takes the top spot as leaders aim to harness the power of analytics to resolve complexities across business, clinical, and people areas.
Current top challenges
Change from previous research
+47%
Investing in data structures for better decision-making
Supply chain transformation
+23%
-28%
Cost reduction/optimization
Regulatory compliance
N/A
Redefining portfolio/changing healthcare business model
-27%
0%
Finding the right mix of inpatient and outpatient services
-4%
Workforce shortages
Managing health system capacity
-8%
Addressing consumer experience
-18%
Operational efficiency using advanced analytics (AI/ML)
0%
Financial pressures and cost-saving measures
Leaders take comprehensive approach to address financial pressures
To better understand industrywide revenue and cost challenges, healthcare leaders
rank the key financial pressures their organizations face.
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Revenue pressures
Cost/expense pressures
1. Supply chain and vendor costs
2. High cost of capital
3. Reducing internal operation costs
4. Rising labor costs
1. Pricing optimization
2. Revenue cycle management
3. Adding digital-enabled revenue
4. Pressure from competition
In response to widespread financial pressures, leaders are balancing a combination of core
and transformational cost-saving measures to improve financial health and fund growth priorities.
Top cost-saving measures this year
Supply chain cost reductions
38%
Increasing interoperability & system optimization
36%
Redefining portfolio
35%
Reconfiguring economic model
30%
Workforce cost reductions
31%
Top investments and growth priorities
Technology, employees, and
consumers key investment priorities
This year, investment areas and growth priorities go hand-in-hand as leaders aim to enhance the employee and consumer experience, modernize operations, and strategically deploy technology to inform growth initiatives.
How leaders rank growth priorities
- Consumer engagement
and retention
- Strategic cost management
- Data management & analytical decision making
- Integrated care delivery models
- Redefine portfolio
- Staffing recruitment and retention
- Adoption of AI tools
- Adoption of AI tools
- Mergers and acquisitions
Where leaders are investing
- Investing in digital tools
- Improving care access
- Redefining portfolio/changing healthcare business model
- Revenue growth
- Improving employment productivity
- Investing in AI/machine learning
- Investing in AI/machine learning
- Revenue cycle automation/ optimization
- Improving consumer/
customer experience
How leaders are implementing AI
Diagnostic and generative artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a new trend expected to impact organizations in the next three to five years. Leaders cite several areas where they’re implementing or plan to implement more traditional
forms of AI and automation:
77%
are investing in intelligent automation for care delivery
70%
are prioritizing AI tools and RPA as a strategic growth priority
29%
plan to
adopt AI tools and RPA to save costs
23%
are automating revenue
cycles to confront challenges
3 ways healthcare leaders are driving change
With widespread trends and challenges influencing healthcare, how will organizations adapt? Leaders identify three key actions they’re implementing today.
Click to explore
Re-evaluate portfolios to grow revenue
Redesigning portfolio remains a key strategic growth priority and cost-saving measure. A quarter of leaders also cite difficulties finding the right mix of inpatient and outpatient services.
As organizations evaluate their service mix and evolve their care delivery models, leaders identify care-focused initiatives, along with strategic partnerships and advanced technologies including generative AI, as core to optimizing and growing their portfolios.
Strategic partnerships 39%
Population health strategies 37%
Advanced technology adoption 36%
Regulatory compliance changes 34%
Integrated and value-based
care models 34%
Redesign how work gets done
Work redesign emerges as a new trend this year, and culture-focused initiatives are a top priority.
Forward-thinking leaders are prioritizing staffing, recruiting, and retention initiatives while strategically investing in digital tools to relieve staff workload. By thinking critically about what work needs to be done, who does the work, and how work will be performed, organizations can innovate their workforce strategy to address talent challenges and position themselves
for future success.
Healthcare organizations are prioritizing culture-focused initiatives.
01
02
03
Evolve care to become more consumer-centric
Consumer engagement and retention ranks as the top growth priority this year, with leaders championing strategies including care access transformation, virtual care delivery, and improving the consumer experience.
Re-thinking care to match shifting consumer preferences creates an opportunity for organizations to increase patient loyalty and drive network integrity.
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put possible into practice.
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