Looking Forward, Healthcare Needs To Focus More on Service

Michael Dowling, president and CEO, Northwell Health

Each year since 1999, the Society for Health Care Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD) produces Futurescan, a look at some of the major emerging trends likely to shape the healthcare industry in the next five years.

The current edition spans 2022-2027. The topics cover a broad range of issues as we enter what we hope may finally be the post-COVID phase:

• Consumerism and Innovation Beyond the Hospital
• Virtual Health Strategies
• New Business Models
• Healthcare Workforce
• Diversity and Inclusion
• Provider Reimbursement
• Behavioral Health
• Emergency Preparedness

We recently shared highlights from top industry thought leaders who contributed their expertise to Futurescan: Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell Health; Kenneth Kaufman, managing director and chair of healthcare consulting firm Kaufman Hall; and Randy Oostra, DM, FACHE, president and CEO of ProMedica.

In Futurescan’s “The Post-COVID Transformation of Health Care Delivery,” Dowling makes a bold statement: “The single most important distinguishing characteristic of successful healthcare organizations post-COVID will be service.”

Unlike the hospitality industry, which is all about service, healthcare still struggles to think and act like a service industry.

While providers may assume that patients will be satisfied with quality care and nothing more, Dowling points out that today’s patients have higher expectations and want to be treated like valued customers. “What our healthcare customers want is kindness, punctuality, easy access, and friendly staff,” he says. “Quality is assumed.”

Read the full story now: Highlights from Futurescan 2022-2027

Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President