HCEG Top 10

2022 HCEG Top 10 (See detailed descriptions here)

2021 HCEG Top 10+ (See more about this special list due to COVID-19 pandemic)

1. Consumerism – Understanding, addressing, and assuring that all consumer interactions and outcomes are convenient, timely, streamlined, appropriate, and cohesive so that health fits naturally into the “life flow” of every individual and their family’s daily activities.
2. Costs & Transparency – Optimizing strategies and tactics to address growth of medical, behavioral/mental health, and pharmaceutical costs and their impact on the consumer, quality of care/outcomes, and provider experience.
3. Delivery System Transformation – Operationalizing and scaling medical and non-medical services among all healthcare stakeholders using technology, policy, and people to address socioeconomic, geographic, environmental, demographic, lifestyle, and other barriers impacting health outcomes.
4. Accessible/Virtual Points of Care – Expanding availability and acceptance of telehealth, mHealth, wearables, digital devices, remote monitoring/care, retail clinics, home-based care, micro-hospitals, and other initiatives to move care closer to home and office.
5. Data & Analytics – Leveraging advanced analytics and new sources of standard, non-standard, unstructured, highly variable medical and non-medical data to improve health outcomes, reduce costs, and support healthcare transformation for consumers, providers, payers, and other stakeholders.
6. Interoperability – Integrating and improving the exchange of member, payer, patient, provider data and workflows to bring value of aggregated data and systems (EHR’s, HIE’s, financial, admin and clinical data, etc.) on a near real-time and cost-effective basis to all stakeholders equitably.
7. Holistic Individual/Family Health – Identifying, addressing, and improving the consumer/patient’s overall medical, lifestyle, behavioral, socioeconomic, cultural, financial, educational, geographic, and environmental well-being for a frictionless and connected healthcare experience.
8. Healthcare Policy – Dealing with volume and uncertainty of healthcare policy and regulations amid rapidly changing and often unstructured government programs: ACA enrollment/subsidies, single payer, public option, Medicare/Medicaid buy-in, block grants, CMS Interoperability and Patient Access, etc.
9. Next Gen/Value Payment Models – Developing and integrating technical and operational infrastructure and programs for a more collaborative and equitable approach to manage costs, share risk, and enhance quality outcomes in the transition from volume to value.
10. Privacy & Security – Staying ahead of cybersecurity threats on the privacy of consumer healthcare and other information to secure consumer trust in sharing data amid the changing landscape of federal and state privacy laws.
11. Pandemic Impact/Preparedness/Response – Identifying, developing, and responding to challenges, issues, and opportunities revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic and potential future disasters.
12. Supply Chain Optimization – Improving the visibility, efficiency, resilience, and scalability of supply chains by benchmarking operations, integrating multiple disjointed systems, and achieving real-time reporting, demand forecasting, inventory distribution, and management.
13. Culture/Innovation/Leadership – Creating a more innovative and consumer-centric organization through strategic focus, attention, and investments in supporting sufficient human resources, leadership development, and team collaboration and well-being.
14. Technology – Transforming healthcare through the application and use of existing and evolving technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, blockchain, Internet of Medical Things, precision/personalized medicine, 3D-printing, virtual/augmented reality, 5G connectivity, etc.
15. M & A/Joint Ventures – Addressing priorities, augmenting growth, and ensuring organizational longevity through acquisitions and joint ventures with non-traditional participants, partnering with InsurTech to leverage existing customer data and relationships, and other M & A’s to unify multiple point solutions into larger platforms.
16. Public Health/Population Health – Prioritizing national and community-based health and wellness strategies, preventive and chronic care management, clinical and administrative integration, and barriers to health such as social determinants.

2020 HCEG Top 10

1. Costs & Transparency – Implementing strategies and tactics to address growth of medical and pharmaceutical costs and impacts to access and quality of care.
2. Consumer Experience – Understanding, addressing and assuring that all consumer interactions and outcomes are easy, convenient, timely, streamlined,  and cohesive so that health fits naturally into the “life flow” of every individual’s, family’s and community’s daily activities.
3. Delivery System Transformation – Operationalizing and scaling coordination and delivery system transformation of medical and non-medical services via partnerships and collaborations between healthcare and community-based organizations to overcome barriers including social determinants of health to effect better outcomes.
4. Data & Analytics –  Leveraging advanced analytics and new sources of disparate, non-standard, unstructured, highly variable data (history, labs, Rx, sensors, mHealth, IoT, Socioeconomic, geographic, genomic, demographic, lifestyle behaviors) to improve health outcomes, reduce administrative burdens and support transition from volume to value and facilitate individual/provider/payer effectiveness.
5. Interoperability / Consumer Data Access – Integrating and improving the exchange of member, payer, patient, provider data and workflows to bring value of aggregated data and systems (EHR’s, HIE’s, financial, admin and clinical data, etc) on a near real-time and cost-effective basis to all stakeholders equitably.
6. Holistic Individual Health – Identifying, addressing and improving the member/patient’s overall medical, lifestyle/behavioral, socioeconomic, cultural, financial, educational, geographic and environmental well-being for a frictionless and connected healthcare experience.
7. Next Generation Payment Models – Developing and integrating technical and operational infrastructure and programs for a more collaborative and equitable approach to manage costs, sharing risk and enhanced quality outcomes in the transition from volume to value. (bundled payment, episodes of care, shared savings, risk-sharing, etc).
8. Accessible Points of Care – Telehealth, mHealth, wearables, digital devices, retail clinics, home-based care, micro-hospitals; and acceptance of these and other initiatives moving care closer to home and office.
9. Healthcare Policy – Dealing with repeal/replace/modification of current healthcare policy, regulations, political uncertainty/antagonism and lack of a disciplined regulatory process. Medicare-for-All, single payer, Medicare/Medicaid buy-in, block grants, surprise billing, provider directories, association health plans, and short-term policies, FHIR standards, and other mandates.
10. Privacy / Security – Staying ahead of cybersecurity threats on the privacy of consumer and other healthcare information to enhance consumer trust in sharing data. Staying current with changing landscape of federal and state privacy laws.

2019 HCEG Top 10

1. Data & Analytics: Leveraging data (especially clinical) to manage health and drive individual, provider and payer decisions.
2. Total Consumer Health: Improving members’ overall medical, social, financial, and environmental well-being.
3. Population Health Services: Operationalizing community-based health strategy, chronic care management, driving clinical integration, and addressing barriers to health such as social determinants.
4. Value-based Payments: Transitioning to and targeting specific medical conditions to manage cost and improve quality of care.
5. The Digital Healthcare Organization: HSAs, portals, patient literacy, cost transparency, digital payments, CRM, wearables and other patient-generated data, health monitoring, and omni-channel access/distribution.
6. Rising Pharmacy Costs: Implementing strategies to address growth of pharma costs along with benefits to quality of care and to total healthcare costs.
7. External Market Disruption: New players like Amazon, Chase, Apple, Walmart, and Google.
8. Operational Effectiveness: Implementing lean quality programs, process efficiency (with new core business models), robotics automation, revenue cycle management, real-time/near-time point of sales transactions, etc.
9. Opioid Management: Developing strategies for identifying and supporting individuals and populations struggling with substance abuse/addiction or at risk of addiction.
10. Cybersecurity: Protecting the privacy and security of consumer information to maintain consumer trust in sharing data.

2018 HCEG Top 10

1. Clinical and Data Analytics:   Leveraging big data with clinical evidence to segment populations, manage health and drive decisions
2. Population Health Services Organizations: operationalizing population health strategy, chronic care management, driving clinical integration, and integrating social determinants of health
3. Value-Based Payments: targeting specific medical conditions to manage cost and quality of care
4. Cost Transparency: growing legislation and consumer demand
5. Total Consumer Health: improving members’ overall well-being and medical, social, financial, and environmental
6. Cybersecurity: protecting the privacy and security of consumer information
7. Healthcare Reform:  repeal, replace, or substantial modification of current healthcare laws, Block Grants, Single-Payer, Industry Stability
8. Harnessing Mobile Health Technology: Improving disease management, member engagement, and data collection/distribution
9. Addressing Pharmacy Costs: implementing strategies to address growth of pharma costs versus benefits to quality of care and total medical costs
10. The Engaged Digital Consumer: HSAs, member/patient portals, health and wellness education materials.

2017 HCEG Top 10

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1. Value-based Payments: targeting specific medical conditions to manage cost and quality of care
2. Total Consumer Health: improving member’s overall well-being – medical, social, financial, and environmental
3. Clinical and Data Analytics: leveraging big data with clinical evidence to segment populations, manage health and drive decisions
4. Cybersecurity: protecting the privacy and security of consumer information
5. Cost Transparency: growing legislation and consumer demand
6. Harnessing Mobile Health Technology: improving disease management, member engagement, and data collection/distribution
7. Addressing Pharmacy Costs: implementing strategies to address growth of pharma costs versus benefits to quality of care and total medical costs
8. Care Redesign: leveraging team-based care models, focusing on behavioral health and social needs
9. Accessible Points of Care: telehealth, retail clinics and micro-hospitals vs. large, integrated systems
10. Next Generation ACOs: additional programs in bundled payment, episodes of care-shared savings, and growing participant base