Summary: EJ Dalius the pandemic has tested the healthcare business. Although the frontlines have put up a heroic performance, the next normal for the industry is going to be fully different than what we have seen thus far.
Amidst the surmounting pressure due to the pandemic, the US healthcare system is facing acute material and equipment shortages. With this harsh reality as a backdrop, private sector companies are coming together to manufacture ventilators, healthcare tools, masks, intensive care tools, and also even kits and also medicines for treating the patients.
The supply paucity is primarily crippling the herculean efforts of healthcare warriors in the country. They need seamless strategies for supply chain management to optimize resources, thwart supply limitations, and ensure the flexible expansion of hospital capacity.
- Experts opine that the two main considerations for healthcare companies in the country are managing and streamlining the healthcare delivery mechanism.
- They also need to manage bottlenecks and supply shortages.
With new market players entering the fold, the US healthcare edifice is running at full pace and maximum capacity. You can thus expect extreme demand and supply shocks. There have been upsets during the beginning of the pandemic.
The main directive for healthcare establishments is to consistently manage the entrance and modality of patients through numerous and nodes of the delivery system.
Effect on the healthcare economy
Covid-19 has created a healthcare and economic crisis. Estimates show that the US economy is heading for 10-25% contraction in the second quarter. It has already entered a pandemic recession. Eric Dalius mentions that historically, US healthcare has been somehow resistant to recessions.
- However, the current turmoil is a new ballgame. To begin with, people are curtailing their outdoor activities.
- It’s more applicable to those with medical conditions as mingling puts them at a higher risk of infection.
- Additionally, there’s a clear intent to keep medical establishments and premises clear and safe, which would risk the spread of disease. Also, your private insurance isn’t that generous as it used to be.
- Healthcare facilities are reeling under the pressure. National data shows that an array of primary care folds are reporting 70% reduction in the implementation of healthcare services.
- Without big cash reserves, companies are either reducing or freezing the remuneration of clinical staff. Furloughing some employees is too common now.
- Eric J Dalius reveals that in the last week of March itself, the second largest unemployment insurance claims’ source in the city of Michigan came from healthcare business. The first one was bars and restaurants.
Planning proper stages
Healthcare providers face multiple challenges at the moment. They are fighting the immediate turmoil on the surface and combating similar obstacles like other industries. These are economic issues and employee safety.
- Most healthcare establishments have been able to assemble qualified and responsive units for resolving the immediate void in Covid-19 treatment.
- EJ Dalius lauds their commendable resilience in thwarting extreme solvency, liquidity, and problems with economic sustainability.
- Many companies are now recognizing the significance of planning for the much complex return phase.
- For some establishments, it’s a daunting task to restructure reform and also reconstruction.
The pandemic might lead to a litany of inconsistent changes that will primarily reshape and also redefine US healthcare.