• Amid high inflation, healthcare expenses have grown even more dramatically.
• Margins are eroding for health systems: 69% of health system strategic planners report that 2022 operating margins were below pre-pandemic performance.
• Premiums are soaring higher: The expected average increase to employer healthcare benefit costs for 2023 is 6.5%.
• Startup ventures are facing increased scrutiny: Increased interest rates and the general stock market downturn have brought investments far below those in 2021.

The “great resignation” is more likely a great realignment. The workforce shortage crisis is hitting each sector differently and is shifting the balance of power.

• Big tech, big retail, virtual providers, and startups are best positioned to attract staff seeking better pay and conditions.
• Health systems, post-acute care facilities, and physician practices are losing the most due to burnout.

• Healthcare businesses are increasingly blurring the lines of what functions they perform and largely ignoring the contradiction between competition and partnership.
• Mega-players with ample capital are throwing around enormous resources to procure a range of assets — especially ones with clinicians and care delivery capabilities.

The decisions healthcare organizations make today about strategic initiatives must be based on how they can shape the future healthcare landscape.

• For the outcomes we want to achieve as an industry, consider the roles health equity and value-based payment play.

• For the mechanisms we’ll have to steer patients through the healthcare system, consider who will benefit from the volume-shifting possible through physician partnership.

• For the care delivery options that are available, consider how telehealth innovation can be competitive while also delivering efficient and quality care.