Here’s some news to get your pulse racing: From employer healthcare benefits to patient care, experts predict a rather hearty rise in health costs in 2023. 

“As is the case in most years, health cost trend is a key driver of premium growth in the coming year. For example, in their 2023 filings, many insurers are projecting a trend of about 4-8%,” said researchers at Peterson-KFF.   

(Insert collective groan here.) 

“Although insurers are primarily interested in price growth in the health sector given the unusually high pace of inflation in the rest of the economy, there is potential for general economic inflation to flow through to the health sector,” researchers added. 

Much like previous years, we believe the focus for healthcare organizations in 2023 is a heightened need to manage costs while improving care. The solutions include streamlining workflow processes from a centralized data platform, coordinating among stakeholders with interactive tools like Slack, and to explore AI-based innovations that digitize and expand personalized patient engagement and research, and support value-based care without increasing overhead costs. The foundation for many of these initiatives is a cloud-based, HLS-focused platform CRM platform.

With overhead costs and patient care in mind, let’s examine three projected trends for 2023.  

Manage decentralized healthcare from a single data platform

It’s not just payers that want more efficient healthcare; patients also expect an effective, engaging experience when they visit the doctor. Improved efforts to move patient data to a central digital platform that supports secure interoperable capabilities within the healthcare network is key to managing 

“When providers consolidate patient data within a single healthcare platform, everyone involved in the care journey — from call center agents, to care coordinators, to physicians — has access to the relevant information they need to provide timely care,” Alyssa Halcomb at Salesforce.com said. 

Personalized patient care is no longer considered a “nice to have” option– it’s now a foundational component to innovative care options. “Patient-centered healthcare is the future,” Nikki Pallaras, SF Health Cloud expert explained. “A central platform like Salesforce aggregates consumer data and makes it actionable. With smarter segmentation, providers can send more targeted, omnichannel campaigns, and drive greater patient value at scale.”

Such technology opens the door for coordinated care in 2023. 

Personalize a coordinated patient experience with Slack

Many credit the pandemic for changing our perception of office visits, exposing the challenges some communities face to access care, and accelerating the drive for flexible patient care with new ways to connect doctors with their patients. In 2023, watch for improved coordinated care that partners virtual patient care with applications offering real-time access to patient information.

“Patient Care Coordination enabled by Slack will allow care teams and healthcare organizations to access apps that help improve patient case management and outcomes,” said the Salesforce Health Cloud team. “Care coordinators will be able to connect with colleagues through alerts, messages and workflows from a secure platform.”

Expand AI-driven processes

The emerging human-centric features of AI technology that can streamline workflow and simplify engagement is rapidly securing its role in healthcare organizations. Research shows that around 85 percent of healthcare execs have had an AI strategy in place since 2021. 

We’re at the point now where if you’re not investing in AI, or if you’re on the fence about investing, you’re going to be left in the dust,” says Natalie Schibell, VP and healthcare research director at Forrester Research, adding that she sees AI being pivotal in addressing chronic illness, workforce shortages, and hospital readmissions.  

As part of a keynote announcement at Dreamforce 2022, Salesforce presented Genie as another layer of coordinated technology to simplify patient data management and customizing patient care by working with SF Health Cloud, Customer 360, Einstein and EHR to create a more holistic, real-time view of patient profiles. 

In 2023, we are ready to work with healthcare organizations to implement digital transformation that elevates the patient experience with intuitive, cost-saving processes that support interoperability from a centralized platform, supports easy interaction among service providers, and presents scalable capabilities for innovative service opportunities. 

Let’s chat. Together we can create custom digital transformation to help your organization leverage valued resources while building lasting relationships for growth.