On Thursday, November 15, 2018, Farzaneh Sabi, M.D., Associate Medical Director of Hospital Operations and Perioperative Services for the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, gave the keynote presentation at the District of Columbia Hospital Association’s 40th Anniversary meeting. The gathering was held at our Center for Total Health and drew health care executives, physicians and other leadership from regional organizations.
Dr. Sabi invited the audience to examine trends in the medical industry over the last few centuries and to reflect on periods of change, significant disrupters and opportunities for the future.
She explored how minimally invasive surgeries can result in faster recovery times, improved patient experiences, and reduced hospital stays. Given these advances and less invasive approaches, many procedures can now safely be performed in the ambulatory setting. In the era of the opioid epidemic, these minimally invasive approaches and protocols such as the ERAS (early recovery after surgery) help minimize or eliminate the need for opioids.
With current GDP spending on health care reaching $3.3 trillion (last reported in 2016) and increasing out of pocket costs, consumers of health care are playing larger roles in these conversations. Through recent mergers and acquisitions of traditionally non-medical industry giants, the conversation about the future of the medical industry is shifting.
Dr. Sabi shared five main areas of change that she anticipates will impact the future of hospitals. Hospitals of the future will rely more heavily on technology to support the higher acuity of patients who will need this type of care. The same level of services needs to be available 7 days a week. To help contain the rising costs of care and in order to eliminate redundancies and avoidable duplication of studies and procedures, investments in shared medical platforms are necessary throughout the industry. Resources for end of life care must be available in the ambulatory setting to avoid unnecessary hospital stays. Finally, regulations must keep up with the rapidly changing medical landscape, because although the industry is ready to move forward, change is sometimes paralyzed by lack of regulatory alignment.
