Patient expectations in 2022 are evolving and it’s time that your practice refines your process and customer journey to delight your tech-savvy patients. Let’s look at the top healthcare business trends in 2022 to help your practice create a better patient experience and stay ahead of your competition.

Top Healthcare Trends You Need to Know

1. Telehealth - The Rise of Virtual Care

By 2027, telemedicine is expected to produce $397 billion. This industry trend is advantageous to healthcare leaders for numerous reasons. Particularly because people can receive the medical care they need minus the face-to-face interactions during the pandemic. You can still bill visitors for their virtual visits, but you should consider a digital tool to help you make the Telehealth healthcare system easier for your staff and your patients.

Key Facts:

• The use of Telehealth services are up 154%
• 13%-17% stable usage of telehealth communications
• The Medicaid program in most states will provide some virtual care coverage
• CDC anticipates market growth of roughly $397 billion in the next five years
• Telehealth is rapidly flourishing, as it makes access easier for healthcare providers and patients alike
  

2. Staffing Shortages Within the Healthcare Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe workforce shortages among the nation. More healthcare organizations are losing employees due to clinician burnout and other reasons. Most healthcare practices have had to find other ways to mitigate their staffing issues, and that is one reason why outsourcing is a growing trend in most facilities. Hiring, training, and keeping your employees will be especially important during this time.

Key Facts:

• Outsourced billing is expected to see a 10% - 20% upsurge
• Outsourced billing can save you money vs. in-house billing staff
• A full team of experts is behind the scenes, managing your billing process
• Outsourcing allows physicians and specialists the opportunity to focus on treating patients
  

3. Using Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Although remote patient monitoring became much more well-known and utilized between 2020 and 2021, look out for it to really flourish in 2022. When you can consistently monitor patients virtually without having them come into the office, that's a great step in the right direction of modernizing the healthcare industry.

But it also involves the correlation between office staff and resources, concurrently. RPM also reduces person-to-person exposure, especially in light of the ongoing pandemic.

Key Facts:

• The use of RPM is predicted to increase over time
• RPM promotes patient engagement, safety, satisfaction, and mobility
• Using the RPM method eliminates face-to-face contacts and office resources
• Using RPM creates a stream of revenue for providers while they work to maintain patients' health
  

4. Digitalized Healthcare Experience

Digital health technologies are developing enhanced medical technologies, and mobile apps are becoming increasingly high in demand in healthcare organizations. Most people don't leave home without their smartphones, and if they do, it was an accident. Indeed, it's understandable that the advancement of providing a digitalized experience for your patients is a critical initiative.

The main growth factors include:

• Speedy progress with mobile apps and technologies across different healthcare specialties
• An increase in the number of diagnosed lifestyle-related diseases
• Creating an optimized website and managing your online reviews
• Use secure and private Electronic Health Records (EHR) to digitalize your patients' medical history. Keep cybersecurity in mind as you manage your patients' health data
• Using digital tools to answer your patients’ questions real-time and offer online booking
  

5. The Future of Artificial Intelligence in 2022 Healthcare

Healthcare software has been revolutionized by advancements in AI and machine learning in the last year, inclusive of revenue collection and medical billing. When AI is employed for medical billing and coding, it's capable of sifting deeper into analyzing and categorizing unstructured data, then bridging the applicable information categorically.

The significance of human-to-machine coaction has been extensively referenced, and the pandemic has put AI to the test. During outbreaks of the virus, AI aided in:

• Answering patients' questions online
• Allowing healthcare professionals to provide online booking options
• Maintaining electronic medical records

Utilizing AI expedited, enhanced, and lowered the cost of healthcare services. Individuals and algorithms need to develop an improved understanding of one another. Consider monitoring and implementing advances in processing and computer vision. Also, contemplate hiring specialists who are skilled in training and programming AI for medical functionality.

Key Facts:

• Quickly collects compensation with decreased delays
• AI supports increased patient interactions, along with its associated revenue
• Improves quality and treatment methods while delivering improved patient care
  

6. Robots that Disinfect

Yes, you heard that right. Since modern technology in healthcare has and is continuing to, grow in leaps and bounds, is it astounding that robots could be a safe and great option in assisting with virus and infection protection in your point of care?

In response to the 2020 widespread infections of medical staff, including doctors, robots have attained a specialized place of significance in the healthcare sector. Did you know that robots can be assigned to perform routine tasks? That's amazing! A few examples include:

• Sterilizing rooms and registering patient temperatures.
• One great example of this is the startup, "Youibot". Not only did it disinfect surfaces using ultraviolet light, but it was also able to scan visitors and identify the principal signs of diseases.
• Another example takes place in Singapore, where a robot dog by Boston Dynamics was, by experimentation, used in the streets to patrol public places. The robot dog would also broadcast a repeat recording of the importance of social distancing.
• A third example takes you to Florida's Mayo Clinic, where robot vehicles were used to safely transport Covid-19 vaccine tests.

Robots don't replace human specialists, however, technology continues to expand its capabilities. In the future, medical practices might shift to hiring mixed teams of humans and robots, and will also face new challenges in connection to investments in:

• Programming robots
• Hiring skilled talent to maintain the robots
• Integrating robots into the work environment
  

Stay on Top of the 2022 Patient Experience

You must understand the importance of familiarizing your business with remote patient monitoring and telemedicine. But you also want to delve deeper into applications that help enhance the doctor and patient experience.

These digitalized tools and advancements will prepare medical practices to better streamline their daily operations, so you want to make sure that your medical practice stays ahead of the game.

Summary:

• In 2022, you will see an assortment of patient mobility devices for the healthcare industry.
• 24/7 medical access from anywhere at any time, and patient autonomy will continue to reshape payer-to-practice relationships.
• These new options and features remove the requirement for in-house input. This is essential with the rise in medical personnel shortages.
• Your patients will enjoy the opportunity to employ self-serve options at their convenience, greatly reducing face-to-face encounters while accelerating intake and workflow.
• Monitor your business metrics and closely at your patient data as you adopt these emerging trends for your medical practice

Conclusion

DearDoc has the solutions you need to stay up to date on the latest 2022 healthcare trends. Our team of experts can assist you in growing your practice and using technology to create a better patient experience. Contact us now for a 2022 business plan to keep your healthcare practice on top of the latest healthcare trends:

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