Resources in Today's Episode:
COVID-19 Predications
- By the end of January, we could be seeing 2,000 to 2,500 deaths a day in the United States.
- There is a concern that the surge will continue to erode volumes in elective surgeries right so that preventative care elective procedures.
- Typically, providers see a surge in surgical volume in Q4, which seems extremely unlikely this year.
- Inpatient surgical procedures are down 18.6% from last year.
How the Election Will Impact the Hospital Industry
- The financial devastation that hospitals and health systems are facing will continue, even if theirs is a second stimulus package approved.
- Whether the new stimulus bills flow directly to hospitals or to consumers who then have money for discretionary spending – both of those will be helpful.
- But just like the first round of the CARES Act, the second bill will not be enough to close the financial gap for hospitals.
- Ultimately the message for marketers and hospital executives is like the saying about how “God helps those who help themselves”, and the stimulus is not going to save us from a terrible financial year.
- In the payor space, people are not going from commercial to uninsured; they’re going from retail to Medicaid.
Critical Areas Health Systems Need to be Thinking About
- A new competition is that of the top of the funnel – i.e., CVS or Humana rolling out clinics, or even Walmart Health and Optum.
- The top of the funnel may not be high dollar services, but it has a tremendous influence on where those patients go for all of their other services.
- Hospitals have to be a lot better at engaging consumers by delivering care on their terms.
- Guiding principle: Offer quick services to people for something they need to do and removes barriers wherever possible.
