Healthcare Horizons

Healthcare systems around the world are struggling with the same issues related to service access and demand, workforce shortages and staff burn out. In the future, the pandemic will likely prove to be just the first of several successive waves of crises expected to batter the sector. Globally, healthcare systems are at risk of being overwhelmed and senior leaders are under immense pressure to take action. New approaches to healthcare challenges are needed because historic methods are unlikely to be effective in responding to the magnitude of current and future challenges.

At KPMG, we feel that a fundamental change in course is needed in the ways healthcare systems are operated. When looking towards the future horizons of healthcare, we propose that an inclusive approach to transformation should be taken through which technology, communities and workforces are leveraged together.

To guide systems towards an inclusive future, leaders should also understand and harness the power of future trends in the areas of technology and data, consumerism, workforce, communities, and environment, social, and governance (ESG) that are expected to profoundly impact every industry, including healthcare in the next decade.

Delivering ‘inclusive’ healthcare systems will require radical transformation that leverages technology to evolve workforce models, empower communities, and create ecosystems that enable seamless interactions between local, national and global organizations. Transformation of such magnitude will require strong collaboration between all healthcare system stakeholders and planning horizons that are much longer than typical one-or four-year business planning cycles. At KPMG, we feel that urgent action is needed to transform the sector. Healthcare organizations should adopt a change agenda that will help them navigate through the successive waves of future crises and challenges to a new horizon where their organizations and communities thrive, and benefit from improved health and care.