Healthcare Costs on the Rise

According to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, $1 out of every $5 spent in America will go towards healthcare by 2020. The nation may spend more on healthcare than manufacturing by that time period.

“Everyone we spoke with, in every country, told us they are afraid their current health system was not built to last,” said Jim Henry, global leader for Healthcare, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report, called HealthCast 2020: Creating a Sustainable Future, finds a convergence of trends and solutions in the global healthcare market, including the way healthcare is funded.

The report includes survey responses from 578 healthcare executives, policymakers and employers from 27 countries to assess their opinions about health systems sustainability.

HealthCast 2020 identifies seven common features for sustainability that include: the need for common ground among stakeholders; a digital backbone; incentive realignment; quality and safety standardization; strategic resource deployment; innovation and process change; and adaptable models of care delivery centered on the needs of patients.