2024 Global Health Care Outlook

Providers worldwide continue to confront the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to widespread labor shortages and rising costs. At the same time, the health care workforce is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by evolving patient demographics, technological advancements, and changing care delivery models.

The global health care sector stands at a crossroads in 2024, poised for profound changes. The future of global health care is likely to be shaped by innovation, sustainability, social care integration, cost management, and workforce adaptation.

The following are some of the key takeaways from the report: 

1. Transforming health care with artificial intelligence

More than three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, many health care systems globally are still struggling with its lingering effects. The need to reduce costs and improve access to care—while still confronting a shortage of skilled workers and clinicians—has driven some health care systems to adopt emerging technology to fill the gaps.

• Streamlining administrative tasks. AI’s largest and most immediate impact may be its role in streamlining administrative processes and reducing expenses.
• Improving the quality of care. AI can help predict patient outcomes based on their unique health profiles, recommend treatment options to both patients and providers, and alert clinicians to concerns such as contraindicated medicine or allergies.
• Expanding access to services. In the future, AI has the potential to assist in three key areas of health care: Intelligent diagnosis, personalized and adaptive care plans and population health management.
• Making AI more trusted through data transparency, explainable algorithms and reliable AI.
• Regulatory challenges. Governments worldwide are working to establish effective regulation. However, the disparity in approaches to regulating and monitoring AI could pose additional challenges to health care providers.
• Deploying AI responsibly in health care. Companies must take steps to ensure AI's use and processes are transparent and auditable. Otherwise organizations can risk alienating patients and other stakeholders.

2. Addressing cost and affordability

The cost of health care continues to define the quality, access, and affordability of health services worldwide. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic increased costs in areas such as staffing, but it also increased a focus on affordability and access.

• While higher labor costs are a major factor in rising health care costs, widespread inflation has also played a role.
• The cost of maintaining care facilities is also a major driver of rising health costs. As the costs of long-term care increase, countries are adopting different funding models to cover the expenses.
• Access to care is linked to affordability. While higher costs reduce affordability of care, affordability can also reflect the level of investment in health and health systems.
• Medical tourism has become increasingly popular among businesses and insurance providers as a means of bringing down health care costs.
• The current cost environment requires health care organizations to focus on transforming care delivery, optimizing operating models, prioritizing workforce investments and adopting a digital strategy to transform themselves.

3. Responding to the looming global shortfall in health care workers

The shortage of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic added a new dimension to the global public health crisis. Several factors contributed to the shortage of professionals, including burnout, high vacancy rates in health facilities driven by a limited talent pipeline, changing demographics, and increased migration rates.

• Clinician burnout is one of the key causes of the health care sector’s labor shortages.
• Trust is essential for health organizations, and it is critical to effective care delivery.
• Increasing clinician pay and rebuilding trust can help prevent the loss of talent and reduce providers’ long-term labor expenses.
• Technology can ease some of the biggest contributors to burnout, such as administrative tasks.
• Providers looking to help improve their recruitment and retention may need to consider transforming their care models, redesigning jobs and rebuilding their workforce.

4. The role of social care

Health care consumers generally support the shift towards integrated social and health care.

• Empowering social care workers. A number of countries are embarking on partnerships to build a more resilient roster of social care talent— and to increase the attractiveness of these careers.
• Supporting aging populations.
• Improving outcomes among underserved populations. Governments need to ensure that investments in the social determinants of health are equitably distributed across underserved populations.
• Adapting to digital delivery.

5. A sustainable future

Each year, the scientific scenarios on Earth’s changing climate become clearer. And these impacts are creating health inequities.

• Delivering sustainable care in unpredictable environments. The environments in which health care systems and providers do their work can be significantly different. Hospitals are addressing acute energy insecurities that affect the delivery of care is by building resilience into their operations.
• Decarbonization investments take shape. The health care sector should decarbonize by reducing direct emissions produced by health care facilities.
• Encouraging sustainable supply chains and creating supply chains that flex with environmental, social, economic, and technological changes.
• Health care organizations can help reduce emissions and cut down on waste across the value chain by supply chain optimization, clinical innovation, low-carbon medicines and transportation efficiency.
• Measuring sustainable outcomes. Measuring environmental impact and being able to compare and learn from peers on how to minimize impact is another way the health care sector can build more sustainable systems.