Healthcare 2017: The Year of Uncertainty and Opportunity

January 27, 2017
In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.

Healthcare Uncertainty and Opportunity
There are many opinions on the top challenges facing US healthcare in 2017. Among the top 10 are the following: 
  1. Uncertainty about Obamacare and the potential fewer insured patients
  2. Continued emphasis on Value Based Care vs Volume Based Care
  3. Continued demand for increased efficiency and decreased costs
  4. Further consolidation of healthcare organizations
  5. Emerging technologies
  6. Rising drug costs
  7. Demand for behavioral health services
  8. Consumer-driven care
  9. Demand for population health
  10. Staffing shortages – Physicians, Physician Extenders, and NURSES
How does this impact nursing, nursing leaders and the 2017 nursing agenda? Key nursing challenges include:
  1. Continued emphasis on increasing quality scores while reducing costs
  2. A growing nursing shortage
  3. A workforce that wants more flexibility and mobility
  4. Decline in nurses who are interested in leadership positions
  5. Drain of inpatient staff nurses to APN and other opportunities
  6. Growing pressure for unionization and building staffing ratios into union contracts
  7. Violence against nurses in the workplace
  8. Caring for more behavioral health patients in the ED and inpatient settings
  9. Keeping pace with new technologies
  10. Maintaining staff morale in the midst of uncertainty and resource constraints
Key resources required to meet the challenges:
  1. A Nursing Assessment and Strategic Plan that examines existing resources and identifies strategies for meeting the current challenges.
  2. Nursing leaders with the competencies and skills to meet today’s challenges.
  3. Innovative staffing, staff retention and cost reduction strategies.
  4. The skills and abilities to demonstrate the nursing ROI.
  5. Specific plans and actions for caring for the caregiver.
Kirby Bates offers a continuum of services aimed at helping organizations and nursing leaders to address today’s healthcare challenges and provide the best possible care with the available resources, including:

  • Executive Search – to find the most qualified leadership talent
  • Interim Leadership – to provide immediate value added nursing leadership resources
  • Coaching – to help new and struggling nursing leaders be the best they can be
  • Consulting – to evaluate nursing resources and identify innovative solutions for increasing quality and decreasing costs

With our extensive network of qualified leadership, strategic approach and years of hands-on experience, KBA routinely transforms uncertainty into opportunity for health systems around the country.