Healthcare seems to be one of those industries that is in a permanent state of crisis, whether due to political interference, technological change, or demographic transition towards an ageing society.  A recent report from the Center for Connected Medicine (CCM) aims to look beyond these macro trends however and explore what are the issues keeping health executives up at night.

The report suggests that things such as cybersecurity were an especially pressing concern, as was the risk of entry into the space by technology giants like Apple and Google.  The findings emerged from a quantitative and qualitative study into the opinions of executives at around 40 different healthcare providers in the United States.  The analysis revealed particular concerns around three main areas:

• Cybersecurity, as criminals are increasingly targeting the health sector.  This has resulted in 87% of respondents planning to increase spending on cybersecurity in 2019.
• The industry is also optimistic about the potential for reimbursement for telehealth services, although in 2019 the bulk of this is expected to come from patient payments rather than government or commercial avenues.
• The muted entry of Amazon, Apple and Google into the health market is causing concern for 70% of respondents, with 10% saying they were very concerned.

The CCM is a collaborative venture operated by Nokia, GE Healthcare and UPMC, and this survey picked the brains of 63 chief information officers (CIO), chief medical information officers (CMIO), and chief nursing information officers (CNIO).  This sample identified key areas of concern, and a follow up survey was then distributed to explore each area in more depth, with qualitative interviews also conducted with 18 executives.

While these issues are perhaps not at the sexier end of the spectrum, the authors, and it seems healthcare executives, nonetheless believe them to be the top challenges facing the industry in 2019.

“Artificial intelligence, consumer technology, and genomics jump to the top of the list when health system IT executives think about the technologies that will have the most impact on health care in five years,” the authors say. “While these technologies command a large share of health IT media attention, it is clear from the Top of Mind findings that many health IT executives believe the impact of these advanced solutions will be further down the road when compared to the more pressing concerns of cybersecurity, telehealth and interoperability.”