Ever since the Affordable Care Act was officially signed into law in March 2010, the industry has been abuzz with speculations as to how the largest anticipated restructuring of the U.S. healthcare system in recent history will ultimately shake out. While most of the broader market reforms won’t be rolled out until 2014, a number of initiatives are already in place. However, looming large is the million-dollar question: Does the industry have any more clarity about how reform will reshape the world of healthcare than we did a year ago?
“We are basically at square one, with a little more clarification,” suggests Brian Allamby, director, strategy and operations, healthcare and life sciences, AECOM, Washington, D.C. “We do know that cost reduction initiatives, declining reimbursement, and quality initiatives will be the hallmarks of any serious reform.”
At the same time, a number of big questions remain unanswered. For example, from where will hospitals—particularly smaller facilities—find the resources to fully transition to an electronic medical record (EMR) system? And will demand for primary services in outpatient clinics significantly increase or will emergency departments continue to shoulder the load?
