The American healthcare system is expansive and complicated, but there are ways to make services easier to use.
A long list of factors contribute to the growing web that creates a complex healthcare system, futurist Ian Morrison writes in a piece for Hospitals & Health Networks. For example, many patients are now older, and are being treated for several conditions simultaneously, making clinical care more complicated, and multiple payment methods and payers create a complex system for coverage.
“American healthcare may be the most complex, technologically advanced and administratively intricate of any health system in the world,” Morrison writes.
Other areas Morrison notes include a growing focus on population health for both providers and payers and a lack of transparency and understanding among consumers about healthcare and insurance costs. The rise of accountable care organizations have also led health providers to look into new organizational structures, and the efficacy of such programs has been called into question.
However, there are signs of movement toward more simplicity, Morrison writes. He points to actions taken by Kaiser Permanente as an example, as the system offers both care and insurance, but has a simple business model. It has designed care delivery to minimize unnecessary hospital visits and other expensive care, embracing telehealth to treat patients. Patients are able to understand how the system works, and become fiercely loyal, Morrison writes.
Visions of simplicity like Kaiser Permanente’s offer four principles for reducing complexity, according to Morrison:
- Simplicity requires hard work. Just because the patient experience is clear, that does not mean complex structures aren’t operating behind the scenes.
- Simplicity benefits both providers and patients. Such a business model is easy for consumers to understand, and makes financial sense for providers.
- Simplicity requires technology. Morrison writes that healthcare innovation to date has been more about physical structures, so expect that outlook to become increasingly digital.
- Simplicity will put patients at the center of care. Consider the patient's perspective in order to develop simple solutions and processes, he says.