5 Healthcare Trends To Watch In 2024

In 2024, advancements in technology, shifting provider needs, and an enhanced focus on patient-centric care will drive the evolution of the healthcare industry. Additionally, as healthcare grapples with various inefficiencies and inequities that plague the industry, providers need to combat them by driving a transformative shift towards a comprehensive and inclusive healthcare system. Here are five key trends that will significantly impact the healthcare industry in 2024:

1. Increasing Nurse and Physician Shortages & Cost of Care

In 2023, we saw labor shortages across the majority of hospitals and healthcare systems, driving challenges for patient care and management. There is every indication that this trend will continue into 2024. For example, the American Association of Medical Colleges projects a national physician shortfall of at least 37,000 — and possibly well over 100,000— over the next decade. The shortage will force the hand of the healthcare industry to expedite the development of new models for care delivery.

Additionally, the cost of delivering medical care has sharply increased over the past few years. In 2022, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), healthcare costs shot up to $4.4 trillion and are expected to reach $6.8 trillion by 2030. Annual costs for hospital services and equipment – inpatient and outpatient services, nursing care facilities, and medical equipment – increased the most.

To combat the shortage and care costs, providers have the opportunity to adopt technologies such as remote patient monitoring (RPM) and AI to make care delivery more efficient.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI)

While other industries have been quick to adopt AI, the technology’s application in clinical healthcare lags due to hesitation around HIPAA compliance, data privacy, risk, bias, and other factors. However, top health systems such as Cedars-Sinai and Emory plan to prioritize AI initiatives in 2024. AI’s utilization in healthcare is helpful in a variety of ways including:

1. as a first point of contact for patients,
2. streamlining provider documentation and communication,
3. identifying abnormalities in medical imagery not caught by humans, and
4. enabling precision medicine and personalized care.

In addition to the listed use cases, the coming years are expected to usher in a new era for the navigation of AI in healthcare, speeding up its implementation, usage, and policy mitigation.

3. Continued Demand for GLP-1s

GLP-1s, or Glucagon-like peptide 1 agonists, are a type of medication originally prescribed to manage blood glucose levels for those with type 2 diabetes. Most recently, they demonstrated exceptional impact on weight loss and early indications of other benefits like cardiovascular risk reduction. Given these results, demand for these medications, such as Ozempic or Wegovy, has skyrocketed over the past few years, leading to record off-label usage and supply chain shortages. For example, U.S. health care providers wrote more than 9 million prescriptions for Ozempic, Wegovy, and similar diabetes and obesity drugs during the last three months of 2022 – a 300% increase over 2020.

Further affecting these record numbers is the growing DtC market (direct-to-consumer) that offers these medications with less oversight than traditional practices and providers.

4. DtC Disruptors

Virtual care and telehealth companies are beginning to move into the DtC market to capitalize on consumer demand. Since DtC models usually focus on enrollment, this can lead to discrepancies in real results, such as measuring faster intake instead of program adherence and patient outcomes.

Chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and hypertension require ongoing medical monitoring of that primary condition as well as comorbidities to drive optimal outcomes. Using available robust technologies, such as RPM, will become standard of care in 2024 because they provide more proactive management of patient health, helping to achieve optimal results and avoiding unnecessary complications.

5. Reimbursement Changes Will Increase RPM Adoption

Finally, the realm of reimbursements for RPM has expanded. When the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, for the first time Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Centers (RHCs) became eligible for reimbursement for RPM and RTM activities. Following several years of grant funding that would inevitably sunset, we will have a financially stable pathway for supporting remote care for this patient population. With these reimbursement changes and overall market maturity, it is expected that RPM adoption will increase exponentially, allowing more than 70 million U.S. patients to benefit from this technology. This is great news, as the addition of RPM to standard care delivery provides patients and their providers with the tools and technology needed to manage chronic diseases.

To drive meaningful change in healthcare, industry collaboration is essential in seizing these opportunities and transforming them into positive outcomes. In 2024, Rimidi will continue to enhance its platform to better support changing patient and provider needs.

Looking for a new RPM partner in 2024? Start your year with Rimidi by contacting us today.