In an annual review of the most pressing issues for health executives and policy makers, PwC identified nine top issues for 2009:
- The economic downturn will hit healthcare
- The underinsured will surpass the uninsured as healthcare’s biggest headache
- Big pharma turns to M&A to build the drug pipeline
- From vaccines to regulation, prevention is on the rise
- Genetic testing reaching a price point for the masses
- The Internet and social networking is a powerful health extended “Technology will empower patients in new ways during 2009. The increased information and growing patient-to-patient interaction over social networking platforms and websites such as patientslikeme.com and americanwell.com are changing how healthcare is navigated and experienced by consumers, especially as electronic health records become more common.”
- Hospitals must perform to get paid
- Payers and employers to give incentives for wellness programs
- ICD-10 will require a major resource investment
