Healthcare has come a long way since the earliest days of the studies of chemistry, psychology, physiology, and more. We’ve swapped out spiritual acolytes trepanning skulls to release evil spirits, to online MSN programs allowing people to pursue advanced nursing careers from the comfort of their own home.
Nevertheless, it seems that there is a storm on the horizon. In 2021, the consulting firm Mercer released a study projecting the conditions of a looming shortage of healthcare staff. Due to several changes within the healthcare landscape, including a population ageing more rapidly than ever before, the unprecedented struggles of healthcare staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, and inequality rife in the healthcare system, our nation is rapidly heading towards an incredibly detrimental shortage of healthcare professionals.
Aside from changes in policy and sociocultural factors, there is one aspect that may help us with the coming healthcare crisis, technology.
America’s healthcare crisis
American healthcare hasn’t been in a good way for a long time. Despite spending more money on healthcare per person per capita than the rest of the world, the outcomes of that healthcare are detrimental, with a 2023 study finding that US citizens typically experience worse healthcare and health outcomes compared to the rest of the world.
In other words, we aren’t getting out what we’re putting in, and we’re putting in a lot.
Combined with other factors such as skyrocketing pricing for care and treatment, a massive gender and race-based pay gap, mass job vacancies due to stress and burn-out both during and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and students being unable to afford tertiary education for a career that will likely never pay back their debts, the coming healthcare professional shortage is just the icing on the cake in a long list of problems.
What’s worse is that there doesn’t seem to be any kind of permanent solution being worked on or even thought about. Policymakers aren’t doing enough about it, and while Trump gets his followers enflamed with claims of conspiracy and abuse, people with an urgent need for medical care are suffering, even dying. As the population ages and a whole new generation enters the retirement age, according to Mercer it looks like soon there is going to be a glut of people that need healthcare, but a drought of people able to provide it.
Mercer insights
The 2021 Mercer study indicates four main conclusions that will drive the approaching shortage:
- Low-income families will be unable to afford primary home care.
- Primary care will frequently be administered by unqualified physicians to supplement the struggling workforce.
- The southern and southwestern states will have a surplus of healthcare talent while other states have a deficit.
- There will be a rush to hire mental health professionals in 2026.
When the report was written, these signs were expected to show in 5-10 years. This means that US families in the low-income wage bracket may start to experience difficulties in affording home care for loved ones who need it in the next as soon as next year.
Fortunately, these insights provide us with some tools to stem the difficulty of the coming times. If low-income families can be offered a supplementing income benefit for healthcare expenses that could go a long way to helping. If the government can also offer debt forgiveness, as well as subsidised education, and incentives for out-of-work healthcare professionals to move from the south to other areas, the personnel shortage might be able to be mitigated.
How will technology help?
As we enter the new technoindustrial age of AI, it is important to remember that AI is only ever designed to assist human ingenuity, not take it over. That being said, AI and other tech developments may be instrumental in addressing the coming crisis.
For a start, technological developments (especially since the pandemic) have allowed healthcare professionals to administer remote healthcare. GPs can conduct consultations online through chat programs such as Zoom, and there is even precedent for nurses carrying out customary duties that don’t require physical presence through online means. Additionally, electronic health records have come a long way, and are instrumental in maintaining a patient’s details and medical history, providing a wealth of information to industry professionals. Technology’s ability to allow patients to monitor their conditions may also become incredibly important in the coming years.
Aside from this, further advancements in mobility aids mean that there are signs that things will soon improve for mobility-affecting disabilities. As well as social media being used as a viable tool of connection and awareness for mental illnesses and other mental disorders, the sense of isolation caused by mental illness is more easily combated.
Not to mention, the aforementioned AI is having its own impacts in the realm of healthcare. AI is being used to track patient history and evaluate the likelihood of certain diagnoses, saving precious time in patient treatment. It is also being used to draft reliable care plans for patients requiring ongoing care.
The future of healthcare
It’s difficult to imagine but people requiring ongoing care in America are due for a very difficult time in the future. With the industry suffering from an all-time shortage and very little being done to address the costs and failings of the health industry, those who need ongoing medical attention may find themselves in hot water sooner rather than later.
However if we can effectively address policy, adjust our thinking, and continue to innovate and implement technological solutions, the difficulties of the coming years might be effectively mitigated. Yet even these solutions demand financial investment and personnel to operate. Unless our future leaders can create an America that values the medical care of its citizens in the next few years then things are likely going to become very hard for lots of people.
Fortunately, we aren’t out of time yet. We just need to start working to get ahead of the looming crisis.
Featured image credit: vecstock/Freepik
