What a Recession Could Mean for Healthcare

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It’s looming, in the coming months or next year, many financial experts foresee an inevitable recession in the United States and elsewhere. A large downturn in the economy will adversely affect the aspect of most people’s lives. Their finances, lifestyle and healthcare. Initially, the effect(s) of a recession on the healthcare sector may not be obvious. Healthcare organizations don’t always take into consideration how an economic downturn is likely to affect them financially.

How a Recession Affects Healthcare Providers
In 2008-2009, there was a recession in the United States. The effect of this recession on the healthcare sector provides an indicator of how a future recession will affect healthcare providers. Though the exact impact of a recession may vary, the information listed below, provides a guideline on what should be expected. The list is not entirely comprehensive, yet most healthcare providers should find it useful.

Reduction in Healthcare Workers
There already is a shortage of trained and experienced staff for many specialized healthcare and medical treatments. Industry experts and healthcare organizations predict a major shortage of qualified doctors and support staff (such as nurses) in the next few years. This problem is usually resolved using temporary or locum tenens staff. However, during a recession, the demand for temporary healthcare staff is likely to reduce, due to the decline of those patients seeking specialized healthcare.

At present, there is a shortage of clinicians for emergency room work, primary care physicians, specialists in behavioral health and professionals for treating addictions. Similarly, there is a shortage of trained staff who provide direct care. Due to the high demand for direct care, the number of service providers are less than the number of qualified staff.

Oddly enough and during the recession a decade ago, healthcare organizations reported that the number of nurses offering their services had increased in some regions in the United States. This was partly attributed to the fact that some nurses who had earlier retired, took up jobs again. In other cases, nurses postponed the date of their retirement, while nurses who were only working part time, started looking for full-time jobs. The increase in nurse workforce helped alleviate the shortage.

Reduction in Demand for Specific Healthcare Services
There are additional economic factors which are likely reduce the demand for healthcare professionals, which includes nurses. During a recession, people have less money and naturally postpone medical treatment to reduce their expenses. The American Academy of Family Physicians (abbreviated as AAFP) had conducted a survey during the recession. They found that families with limited funds spent their money on essentials and other than medical and were forced to reduce the healthcare services which they previously used.

Despite the economic downturn, human beings still require medical treatment for serious health problems and diseases. However, to save money, they avoid taking medical help for health conditions which do not pose a threat to their life and other minor ailments. Analyzing the data available on hospital admissions and optional surgeries confirms this trend.

Research conducted in 2013, on medical data during a severe economic recession, indicates that many people will delay expensive and optional surgical procedures. This decision is likely to financially affect surgeons, hospitals specializing in surgery and major healthcare providers and systems. Statistical data indicates that during the recession between 2009 and 2011, a typical hospital with 300 beds experienced a decline of approximately $3.7 million in medical billing. This was mainly because patients who otherwise used commercial insurance, were either unemployed or underemployed, making less money.

It’s widely believed that the manner in which healthcare consumers spent their money during the recession, permanently altered the healthcare sector. To deal with the decline in spending, healthcare providers increasingly focused on expanding options for outpatient care. When compared to the cost of conventional hospital admission (inpatient) and patient care, usually outpatient services are inexpensive and affordable.

The aforementioned survey of the AAFP noted the following healthcare trends during the recession:

the number of patients with major symptoms of stress increased
many patients were concerned whether they had sufficient funds to pay for their healthcare expenses
the number of appointments which were cancelled by patients increased
there was a decrease in the number of patients who were insured by their employer or privately
since patients did not undertake preventive healthcare recommended to reduce expenses, some patients developed new ailments and health complications
The Complex Relationship between the Economy and Healthcare
The United States economy determines the complicated correlation between employment rates, health insurance coverage, medical expenses and a patient’s access to quality healthcare. Many factors, some of which are unknown, can determine the effectiveness of healthcare and the cost. The financial incentives for a medical practitioner, hospital or other healthcare organization may match or in some cases, conflict with the patient’s requirement for healthcare. During a recession, patients are likely to postpone medical treatments which are unurgent. This adversely affects the revenue of the healthcare sector.

Additional financial problems are faced by healthcare providers, since the number of patients who do not pay medical expenses increased for services received. This forces the healthcare provider to either write off the amount, or include it in the payments due. Donations from charities and funding from government agencies locally, at the state or federal level, may also decrease, adversely affecting hospitals and smaller healthcare providers.

Experts believe that a recession is unlikely to have a major impact on healthcare in the country. The healthcare sector is likely to become more grow (yet become more consolidated), although technology affects direction and speed of changes.

The healthcare mobile app trends indicate the need for innovation in healthcare, a new way to cope with the changing demand and reality. Thanks to the advent of the latest technologies that help health tech companies meet those demands

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It requires significant levels of effort to develop a healthcare mobile app that people will download, install, and recommend. The app stores are full of apps that don’t bring any value to the users. As a result, those apps don’t get the fame they were intended to. To stay ahead of the competitor’s apps, healthcare mobile app developers should track what the users expect from a healthcare app. One of the most effective ways to do this is to be aware of healthcare mobile app trends for 2021.

With the consistent evolution of modern-day digital technologies, mobile apps have become an inseparable part of our lives. Hence, it isn’t surprising that mobile apps are also used in the healthcare sector. The main drivers of mobile app adoption in healthcare are the rise in lifestyle disease rates, growing awareness of mobile medicine, and rapid advances in mobile technologies.

The healthcare mobile app trends indicate the need for innovation in healthcare, a new way to cope with the changing demand and reality. Thanks to the advent of the latest technologies that help healthtech companies meet those demands. In recent years, technologies have made it possible for healthcare service providers to treat patients better using AR/VR tools, wearables, telehealth, and many such health tech solutions.

Let’s go through the most popular technology healthcare mobile app trends:

1. Telemedicine
Although the telemedicine technology trend in healthcare isn’t considered an innovative breakthrough anymore, it is the leading mobile health trend. Telemedicine solutions are experiencing their peak in the adoption rate, and the Covid-19 influence will indeed allow this trend to last long.

There are other exciting factors behind this trend, including the abundance of areas with poor access to healthcare facilities and the cases of adverse state of healthcare infrastructure even in some of the developed countries. For instance, 35% of Canadian patients wait for over a month just to see a doctor. The United States faces a shortage of 1 million nurses. Telemedicine solutions are effective in overcoming all such challenges by bridging the gap, accelerating the process, and making healthcare services more accessible and affordable.

The healthcare service providers have already started adopting telehealth solutions to streamline their healthcare operations. Even the customers are supporting the transformation of medical services. A recent report by the Health Industry Distributors Association states that 54% of the patients prefer consulting their doctors over in-app chat or video calls. Other statistics indicate that nearly 71% of patients want their doctors to use telehealth apps.

Telemedicine apps enable patients to seek help for their chronic disease treatment with greater comfort. They don’t have to physically visit the doctor for regular checkups, which ultimately reduces patient monitoring costs and enhances patient satisfaction.

2. AI and chatbots
With each passing year, AI & ML technologies are becoming less associated with science-fiction and more with “realistic” and serious healthcare and finance aspects. The Healthcare industry is perhaps among the best possible places to implement AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology.

AI technologies provide the ability to process a large amount of data and draw insights based on it. Similar to any other trending technology in healthcare, AI is making its way into the healthcare processes. To name a few, AI is implemented to personalize treatments, analyze medical images, accelerate medical research, create drugs, and facilitate medical imaging.

Moreover, AI can streamline medical facilities’ workflow. For instance, using AI-powered RPA (Robotic Process Automation) tools, medical facilities can automate their daily paperwork and scheduling, something that is monotonous and prone to mistakes. AI can also be used to predict healthcare demand and make arrangements accordingly.

Being a disruptive technology, AI continues to draw significant attention from investors. With this continuous growth ofAI in healthcare, it is clear that the patients will continue to prefer the latest AI-powered healthcare apps to seek healthcare services as well as monitor their health. The AI market in healthcare is estimated to grow to $36.1 billion in 2025, with a tremendous CAGR of 50%.

The most widespread and popular AI implementation of AI in healthcare is chatbots. Chatbots are automatically used to make appointments, find nearby medical facilities, provide information about medicines, early assessments of patients, and even virtual nurse consultations.

Healthcare and fitness institutions like fitness clubs, hospitals, and clinics can utilize AI-powered chatbots to automate their operations. For instance, the fitness clubs can provide information about membership plans, sell subscriptions, collect and manage customer data, book appointments, and organize service quality by doing surveys.

3. Blockchain
If you’re new to the term ‘Blockchain,’ blockchain is a technology that manages databases in chains of blocks; each of these blocks contains information about the previous ones. Although blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrencies, there are several other use cases of blockchain, and one among them is securing the patient health data. Thanks to its decentralization and anonymity, blockchain can manage large amounts of data for the healthcare industry.

In addition to data security, blockchain in healthcare is used to predict patients’ health for better and quick diagnosis. It also reduces the number of errors made during the EMR/EHR data analysis.

As blockchain technology provides secure interfaces for transferring medical data among patients and doctors, Healthtech service providers use it to maintain anonymity and compliance with GDPR and HIPAA regulations.

The implementation of blockchain technology in healthcare hasn’t been significant in the last year. Still, we’re likely to see more and more health tech solution providers using blockchain to ensure effective patient care and compliance with regulatory requirements. Recently, in China, the Beijing Municipal Government Office announced a “Beijing Blockchain Innovation Development Action Plan” to build a secure and transparent healthcare infrastructure compliant with the regulatory requirements. The plan was initiated in 2020 and will be completed by 2022.

4. AR/VR
In 2021, everyone is aware of at least one use case of augmented and virtual reality technology. Like the majority of cutting-edge digital technologies, AR/VR is primarily used in the entertainment sector. You probably have visited virtual quest rooms or VR cinemas in shopping malls. Some people even purchase VR devices to use at home.

But, you’ll be surprised to know that VR enabled Goggles and helmets can not only be used for entertainment, they can also be used for several purposes in the healthcare sector. For example, the healthcare industry can implement AR/VR technologies to help patients with depression, cancer, visual impairment, autism, a study supplement for medical students, and visual demonstrations. AR is also used to analyze CT scans and MRIs.

For medical establishments, the AR/VR technology can:

Save human resource and operational cost and time.
Convert complicated health instructions into immersive training.
Enable real-life training without risking a patient’s health or equipment.
Repeat training classes with almost no associated cost.
Enable standardization of medical learning.
Thousands of healthtech companies across the world have been investing a total of more than $3 billion in AR/VR tech since 2017. The AR/VR technologies are getting popular in the fitness and wellness industry vertical. For instance, a new smart fitness gadget, named Ghost Pacer, has recently been launched. The app supported AR gadget allows users to race against a virtual avatar that only the users can see.

However, Black Box VR was among the pioneers of VR implementation in the fitness industry. The Black Box VR is a virtual reality fitness training gadget that provides users with a virtual experience as if they are working out in a giant stadium against an opponent. The software solution compares the user’s exercise movements with the fitness instructors’ recordings and provides feedback.

However, the VR implementation in the fitness industry is higher than the AR. But the AR technology has started gaining traction. Regardless of fitness level, people are interested in having immersive experiences while working out. It is beneficial for those who aren’t consistent with their exercise routine.

5.The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)
A majority of modern-world’s mHealth apps would be inefficacious without IoMT devices like wearables. As per research by AllTheResearch, the global market for IoMT will reach $254.2 billion by 2026. The market stood at $44.5 billion in 2018. The study further stated that with 27% market share, smart wearable devices accounted for the largest share in the IoMT global market value in 2018.

A report by Deloitte revealed that there were more than 500,000 smart medical devices available in 2018. And with the increasing popularity of smartwatches and bands, this number will only grow. In 2021, the IoMT ecosystem includes devices such as fitness tracking devices, clinical-grade wearables, remote patient monitoring devices, smart pills, clinical monitoring setup, hospital devices, and many others.

Since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015, smart wearables have become a necessity for users who are fitness conscious and want to keep a check on their health status daily. Smartwatches and bands can help users effortlessly monitor their fitness routines just by wearing the gadget on their wrist.

However, smartwatches and bands are going advanced by offering more than just day to day lifestyle monitoring. For instance, Apple’s “Movement Disorder API” enables medical researchers to gather insights into Parkinson’s disease. IoMT devices have undoubtedly transformed the medical industry by simplifying patient health monitoring. Many healthtech companies are working on integrating smart wearable tech with clinic apps. This will significantly benefit the healthcare industry as a whole.

6. Cloud-based solutions
New Healthcare mobile app trends and gadgets allow medical professionals to gather a large amount of patient health data. The physicians and the patients can leverage this data to stay tuned to the treatment process. This also triggers patient involvement, which is very crucial for effective treatment.

The optimum utilization of real-time data can only be made possible by integrating Electronic Health Records (EHR) with cloud-based healthcare solutions. It will also ensure that patient data is shared in a secure environment. When the patient gets access to real-time health information, they can immediately get their e-prescriptions and follow it. Cloud-based apps make it easier for healthcare institutions to access or generate the patient’s medical records, insurance plans, and bills.