On April 30, I woke up with a deep cough, fever, and an aching body—the symptoms that have dominated the news for months. I had a nasopharyngeal COVID-19 test in a drive-thru at a medical building in Boston, where I work as the CEO of a healthcare company. I got an email 48 hours later, confirming I was COVID negative.

I returned to my home office and joined eight Zoom video calls with health system leaders. One of the CEOs, whose system has treated more than 20,000 coronavirus cases, said, “One thing is for sure, things simply cannot be the same after COVID”.

On those calls, I learned that a significant percentage of patients are frightened about coming back to the hospital for care. Whispers of hospital volumes and revenues being alarmingly low, echoed concerns about hospital financial sustainability.

When the day ended, I opened my mail (with surgical gloves of course) to discover a surprisingly large co-pay bill from the hospital, where I had surgery three months ago — reminding me of how patients live with the uncertainty of the significant and growing financial and emotional burden of their healthcare costs.

COVID-19 and its dreadful death toll will be both a catalyst and propellant for the sweeping healthcare delivery model change many have been waiting for. It has shone a light on the financial, operational and safety challenges that have undermined healthcare systems for decades.

A new set of forces emerging from this crisis will drive healthcare delivery in the years to come.

Source: www.scientificamerican.com