International Healthcare Trends

Introduction and Trends

International healthcare trends have long been associated with the locally-based actions and tendencies of various healthcare agencies. In order to best utilize the information available to such healthcare agencies, these organizations are required to learn as much as possible about these trends to best improve their overall market position and potential profit generation enterprises. For example, one of the most powerful and innovative current healthcare-related trends is no doubt that of telehealth which is based on providing healthcare services remotely, nearly anywhere in the world (Nigram, 2017). The benefits of this newly established paradigm of healthcare delivery are quite staggering.

Many of the potential benefits have been created to improve patient health, physician-related platforms of service, and the ability of both parties to work together to increase positive patient outcomes. There are various reasons that telemedicine, as it is sometimes referred to as, has grown so tremendously over the last few years. The primary reasons have involved the use of the various applications of this particular mode, in delivering healthcare solutions to customers telemedicine provides for. For instance, there are various educational and supportive measures in place around the world, including nations like India, Nepal, Canada, and of course the United States (Nigram, 2017). These and other countries have embraced this telehealth paradigm for the betterment of many.

Also, the demand for an entity like telehealth is clearly justified.  In a world where technology provides almost instant satisfaction for everything else, having a faster more immediate medical response seems ideal.  In addition, there are many medical conditions that require excess monitoring and quick response, telehealth allows for both.

The impact of this trend on local healthcare is equally important, for it has allowed regional physicians and healthcare professionals opportunities that never existed prior to this time. Strategies for improvement could be related to expanding the influence of this trend and getting more potential patients online with various internet tools like hospital kiosks in neighborhood locations and on-call services for medical aid.  Other services that could be developed by instituting telehealth are nutritional monitoring for healthier diets and introspective views for medical professionals into the lives of their patients.  Not only would the patients get better access to medical information and services, but their doctors could use the telehealth system to better monitor their patients.

Service Line Management

Service line management is a specific component of the overall marketing thrust designed by healthcare management individuals. What this has normally entailed is the specific use of various marketing efforts aimed at the judicious management of healthcare-related products to improve potential profitability for the healthcare organization (“Service line management in healthcare,” 2017). What this means in a practical sense is that hospitals and various other healthcare facilities have attempted to streamline and improve their use of the medical products they have relied on for finality in a direct effort to decrease waste and overspending and increase their profits.

Managing these services lines has been instrumental in developing essential pathways towards eventual financial success. This must be done in accordance with certain conditional realities, however, in order to improve the overall productivity and profitability of the organization. For instance, product management and service line management, are approaches designed to improve the flow of an organization’s product lines in a way that can direct and manage the responsibility for each line’s development and specificity (“Service line management in healthcare,” 2017). In a way, a healthcare organization must function in a similar capacity as any business model would be in this regard as they must learn to manage their service lines efficiently and well enough to increase profits.

Part of this streamlining could also lie in new avenues, like using telehealth to assist with healthy diet and healthy living.  This could create new service lines to run parallel with the others, increasing company profits by creating new revenue.  It could also better the existing service lines by giving medical professionals access to their patient’s day to day, allowing them to create specific subscriptions for specific people, which creates more efficient output and return.

Costs and Productivity

The overall profitability of any healthcare facility is an equation based on revenue minus its outstanding costs. This has generally been measured with the desire of improving an organization’s sustainability. There has been established a pressing need in regard to the overall management of related costs and the improvement of profit potential for many healthcare organizations around the world for this very reason (“Profitability and cost management in healthcare,” 2015). No medical facility can survive for long if they are not oriented on the focused point of establishing methods to improve their financial livelihood in this manner due to the overarching monetary pressures surrounding them.

In addition, managing costs and improving productivity in this way has led to some interesting parameters of functionality for many firms. For instance, many healthcare organizations have long been attempting to balance the costs associated with providing a high level of quality care with that of their financial standing within the industry as a whole, and also with that of competitive pressures for their individual firms (“Profitability and cost management in healthcare,” 2015). This means that all such agencies should build individual models for the establishment of relative success for their organizations that are created with such balance issues in mind. In order to remain competitive in such highly structured paradigms of medical care providers’ influence, for example, quality assurances, strict adherence to governmental regulations regarding this care, and a balanced approach to financial independence, have thus become the primary focus for many (“Profitability and cost management in healthcare,” 2015). This has happened because it simply must for a firm to exist within this framework of quality care services at affordable costs for all customers.

Revenue Analysis

Being able to analyze a healthcare organization’s financial performance can assist with the process of improving and maximizing its profitability. There are two primary considerations within this framework of activity and these must be accounted for on a consistent basis in order to deliver quality care to individuals who pay for such things. The first is, of course, a strict adherence to this high standard of quality care delivered to patients across a wide spectrum of services offered to them (“Clinical and financial performance measures,” 2017). Regardless of financial incentives, this should be the driving force behind any stated goal of a healthcare organization.

The second functioning aspect to this paradigm is to establish a sustainable framework of that organization’s revenue-based goals and outcomes. This usually has been assigned to correlate to the first primary objective in that healthcare organizations that have adhered strongly to delivering quality care generally achieve financial success and sustainable models of business acumen over time (“Clinical and financial performance measures,” 2017). Achieving a net positive balance on an organization’s financial balance sheet will, of course, ensure that firm is continuingly delivery quality care to customers, for those patients would not go back to that location if their medical needs were not being taken care of on a regular basis. Thus, the framework presented here would be a logical conclusion to the stated goals of all vested parties in this way.

Improving profitability can also be found in using what you already have.  There are many programs that already exist that can help patients without the need for new service lines.  Such programs would complement the new service lines, such as physical therapy programs in correlation with outpatient care.  New prescription acumens backed by therapy sessions to monitor any negative side-effects like depression.  Outpatient care for surgery backed by access to meal planning institutions to help regulate the new diet the patient has to follow.

Correlating these factors could lead to happier patients and more complete care, leading to better and increased business.  Any of this is financially feasible with the right amount of planning and consideration.  A good understanding of health care trends and appreciation for client needs.  The operation and finance of new service lines can definitely happen, but it is a risk as the money put in needs to bring back successful revenue.  However, as healthcare is quite lucrative right now in any form, branching out and taking chances is a very rational move.

Communication

Communicating to both staff members and individuals within a public setting has historically been instrumental with that healthcare organization’s success. Investing in a reasonable marketing campaign, such as using social media to establish a healthcare organization’s place within the sphere of offering medical services to patients, would be an example of the good strategy. Developing such modes of activity within this segment of a firm’s overarching plan generally has led to positive outcomes based on delivering care to patients who then understand what is expected of them within this system of marketing (Greene, 2015). What this has generally entailed is a detailed account of the costs associated with good quality healthcare and the role these customers have in developing their own outcome-based responsibilities therein.

This is where communication plays such a vital role in the establishment of these principles of care and marketing. Staff members of such healthcare organizations must also be on board with communicating effectively all the established principles created by the firm in order to direct customers to them, and to create a sense of brand development. This brand development must be aligned with company core competencies in order to create an exclusivity pertaining to the creation of said principles of care delivery methods. Again, good lines of communication between staff, management, and company executive have made this possible for many firms across the spectrum of quality healthcare services worldwide. The relationship between all of these forces, staff and public alike, has created a synergistic entity in many parts of the world due to its ability to shape the standards of delivering quality care to those patients who require such levels of good medical services.

Conclusion

Nearly all successful healthcare organizations have created avenues of greater performance on a variety of measurements. First is gaining an understanding of and adapting to trends that others have done well with and next is to establish a reasonable rate of return on all financial enterprises to better improve economic performance measurements. The next was to provide a good service line management opportunity followed by sound financial planning that entailed focused revenue analysis. Finally, all good healthcare organizations have laid the foundation for achieving clean lines of communication for marketing their services to both customers and employees.

My recommendation is that we take a chance on these new service lines.  Be smart about the choices made, appreciate the trends, listen to the clients, and figure out what type of healthcare service is needed and has a high demand ready for an adequate supply.  Also, complementing existing services aids the process by saving money, and allocating funds to other avenues.  Also, in regard to telehealth, I would look to more of an infusion of technology, more ways to connect and provide.  This is a world where the connectivity of the internet creates success or failure for any and all.  Being a part of the technological advances, using new trends in a technology infused in the service lines to create a more accessible product speaks the language of a new generation.

References

Clinical and financial performance measures. (2017). HRSA. Retrieved from https://bphc.hrsa.gov/qualityimprovement/performancemeasures/index.html.

Greene, J. (2015). Healthcare marketers reshape ad strategies. Modern Healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20151030/MAGAZINE/310309995.

Nigram, N. (2017). International trends and evolving dimensions in remote healthcare. Hospital & Healthcare Management. Retrieved from http://www.hhmglobal.com/knowledge-bank/articles/international-trends-and-evolving-dimensions-in-remote-healthcare.

Profitability and cost management in healthcare. (2015). Oracle. Retrieved from http://www.oracle.com/us/industries/healthcare/042343.pdf.

Service line management in healthcare. (2017). Numerof & Associates. Retrieved from http://nai-consulting.com/service-line-management-in-healthcare/.