Consumer-driven health plans, workplace wellness, a rising demand for provider quality data, Medicare Part D implementation and the threat of an influenza pandemic were just some of the issues demanding the attention of the healthcare industry in 2006. Which of these topics will continue to consume the healthcare executive, and which new challenges await the industry in 2007?

In "Healthcare Trends & Forecasts in 2007: Performance Expectations for the Healthcare Industry," a special report based on a September 2006 audio conference sponsored by the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN), Peter Kongstvedt, M.D., F.A.C.P., shares his assessment of current and emerging trends that will impact the healthcare industry in 2007. Dr. Kongstvedt is a partner in the Health/Managed Care Consulting Services Practice at Accenture.

This special report, "Healthcare Trends & Forecasts in 2007: Performance Expectations for the Healthcare Industry," also examines the responses of more than 150 healthcare organizations to a September 2006 online survey on the current and future state of the healthcare industry.

Table of Contents

• The State of the Healthcare Industry: Looking Back and Planning Ahead
  • Defining Present and Future Drivers of Healthcare Costs
  • Renewing the Focus on Wellness
  • Care Management's Emphasis On Modifiable Chronic Conditions
  • The Link Between Evidence-Based Medicine and Pay for Performance
  • Factoring In Administration Costs a Given
  • Integrating Disparate Functions into the Equation
  • The Effect of the Decreasing Commercial Lives Pool
  • Organic Growth Ideas: Grow Core Business, Launch New Niche Products
  • Suggestions for Expanding Ancillary Products
  • Inorganic Growth Considerations: Mergers & Acquisitions Lead to Market Consolidation
  • Implications of Current and Emerging Trends
  • Giving Consumers Data While Respecting Privacy
  • Regional Health Information Organizations
  • Electronic Health Records
  • The Impact of the Uninsured
• HIN Survey Results: Industry Growth, Optimism Tempered by Budget, Staffing and Regulatory Constraints
  • Renewed Focus on Wellness Is Boon for DM Vendors
  • Health Plans Holding Steady
  • Uncompensated Care, the Uninsured Top Hospitals’ Concerns
  • Physicians Cautiously Optimistic
  • How Employers, Industry Service Providers Fared
  • New Ventures in 2006
• Q&A: Ask the Experts
  • The Effect of Measuring Patient Satisfaction
  • The Importance of the “Second Sale"
  • On the State of Primary Care
  • Moving Toward Horizontally Integrated Disease Management
  • Extending Coverage for Dependents through Age 30
  • Addressing the Problem of the Uninsured
  • Harnessing the Power of Health Risk Assessments
• For More Information
• Glossary
• About the Author