The healthcare industry has seen some dramatic changes in the past decade. From patient care to real estate, healthcare clinics are changing their business models to account for the new way that many patients interact with healthcare facilities. Between uncertainty regarding insurance reimbursements and an increased focus on empowered self-care, clinics are finding themselves having to deliver specialized services while lowering their own overhead and risk.
Healthcare is Becoming Decentralized
Rather than large hospitals and extensive medical campuses, recent years have seen the proliferation of smaller healthcare facilities. Emergency clinics, neighborhood hospitals, and boutique, specialized medical services are rising up independently throughout neighborhoods and cities. These boutique health care clinics are able to provide services that are tailored to their environment and demographics.
In terms of healthcare facility management, this will see an increased need for services and coverage for smaller clinics. These smaller clinics will often have unique needs, in terms of the assets they need protected and the risks and challenges they face.
Significant Uncertainty Pervades the Healthcare Industry
Healthcare organizations are still uncertain about how modifications to the ACA are going to impact them. Hospitals have been taking on significant risk due to the reimbursement model that was placed by the ACA, and now that it has been repealed, they may find themselves having to take on greater financial costs than they once did. Hospitals are likely going to have to engage in cost-cutting measures, reducing their overhead and reducing their risk, in order to respond to these changes.
Even where hospitals have not been directly impacted, many of them may still be getting increasingly conservative with their spending. With the insurance industry constantly shifting, healthcare facilities cannot be certain what the environment will be in the future.
Mergers With Healthcare Systems Are Leading to Large Conglomerates
While healthcare facilities are branching out, healthcare systems are consolidating. Mergers and acquisition are leading to sprawling healthcare networks, some of which have begun providing their own insurance options in lieu of the unpredictable insurance options available. In the coming years, it’s likely that larger healthcare systems are going to evolve, and that they may also become more powerful as a whole.
As the healthcare industry grows and evolves, so do the insurance programs for healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilities will need modernized insurance policies that have been tailored for their changing needs. Insurance agents that can provide the right insurance coverage will be able to outperform the competition, so it’s crucial for insurance agents to keep up with the newest trends in the healthcare sector and offer comprehensive products that address their ever-changing risk profile.
About Connected Risk Solutions
At Connected Risk Solutions, we use our expertise and experience to provide insurance information and programs to those who serve long-term care and senior living facilities. Since 2007, we’ve been offering insurance and risk management plans designed to help our agents give their clients the ability to achieve continued growth while simultaneously protecting against loss, containing costs and increasing profitability. To learn more, contact us at (847) 832-9100.
