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Contents
- 1 Emergency Medicine Evolution: Navigating New Challenges and Opportunities
- 2 The Future of Emergency Medicine: 7 Key Trends Shaping the Next Decade
- 2.1 Telemedicine in Emergency Medicine
- 2.2 Emerging Technologies
- 2.3 Ongoing Healthcare Policy Changes
- 2.4 Heightened Focus on Behavioral Health, Mental Health, and Addiction
- 2.5 An Evolving Provider/Caregiver Revolution in Emergency Medicine
- 2.6 Greater Focus on Public Health Preparedness and Health Equity in Emergency Medicine
- 2.7 Customer Service in Emergency Medicine (Lest We Forget)
Post written by Yogin Patel, MD, MBA, ApolloMD CEO
Fueled both by intention and necessity, Emergency Medicine and Hospital Medicine are evolving more rapidly than other specialties. National Hospital Week 2024 is an ideal time to examine the forces that are catalyzing this evolution, and how they are likely to continue to shape patient care into the future.
Emergency medicine and hospital medicine share a common trait and purpose: both exist at the frontlines of care. The emergency department is the front door, the initial point of contact, for nearly all patients with any serious illness or injury. Here, emergency medicine physicians and hospital medicine specialists work collaboratively to extend that continuum of care for patients who are admitted to the hospital for stabilization and ongoing treatment. These two services form the foundation of the hospital’s acute care spectrum and consult specialty and subspecialty resources to provide patients with comprehensive care.
Yet, both specialties are also feeling similar challenges, including the brunt of ongoing demographic and socioeconomic shifts, an aging population, an increased need for highly specialized and complex medical care, and an increased demand for mental health/drug addiction treatment, and case management resources.
How can emergency medicine and hospital medicine, adapt to these forces and trends — especially at a time of heightened expectations around patient experience and patient outcomes?
Challenges and Opportunities in Emergency Medicine Await
I’m convinced that emergency medicine will experience more advances in the next five years than we’ve experienced in the previous two, and the change will be fueled by a combination of
• evolving technologies that augment clinician workflow,
• emerging policy mandates to address critical patient needs,
• the increasing recognition of the impact of social determinants of health,
• the growing need for mental/behavioral health to be addressed as a key component of overall health,
• the expansion of the responsibilities and roles of professionals who provide health care,
• and an always-necessary focus on exceptional patient-centric service.
The Future of Emergency Medicine: 7 Key Trends Shaping the Next Decade
Here’s a deeper look at the promising technologies and market forces that will continue to influence the delivery of emergency medicine from 2024 into the next decade:
Telemedicine in Emergency Medicine
The use of telemedicine will continue to grow, extending our ability for emergency medicine physicians to care for patients before they enter the emergency department and after their discharge from the hospital medicine service. The integration of telemedicine technology among current paramedicine personnel and additional care provided by paramedics and other certified professionals will bring emergency medicine clinicians closer to patients’ bedsides — while also facilitating more care for patients at home in ways that we are just beginning to understand and explore. A key long-term benefit? Reduced overcrowding in hospitals and better access to care for struggling patients, regardless of location or available community resources.
Emerging Technologies
Innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning will increasingly be utilized to support emergency physicians in triage, diagnostics, and clinical decision-making within emergency medicine. These tools — and their ability to scour massive amounts of data quickly for key insights and patterns — have the promise to streamline workflow and inform quicker, better decisions in the emergency department’s on-demand environment.
Ongoing Healthcare Policy Changes
As one of the most regulated sectors of the economy, health care is guided by policy changes that will continue to significantly impact the way acute care is delivered, including such topics as reimbursement models, access to care, and resource allocation. We’ve seen some of these changes with the 2022-enacted No Surprises Act to protect patients from excessive, surprise medical bills. As the cost of care continues to climb, I expect more policy changes to focus on balancing the cost and value equation in healthcare.
Heightened Focus on Behavioral Health, Mental Health, and Addiction
Each of these disciplines has a tremendous impact on the health of the nation. I expect the next few years to see significant advancements in the way we understand these diseases, the services emergency medicine can offer, and understanding the impact of these diseases on other aspects of health. This is especially important as more patients seek emergency care for psychiatric/mental/addiction issues in the nation’s emergency departments because of a lack of community resources. At ApolloMD, we are looking at changes in training, resources, and protocols for managing psychiatric and addiction emergencies.
An Evolving Provider/Caregiver Revolution in Emergency Medicine
New paradigms are being investigated to address the challenges of staffing hospitals and emergency departments — particularly the nationwide shortage of emergency physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and other essential personnel. Among the ideas being pursued are virtual nursing and the use of clinical extenders, which are allied health care professionals who can serve as bridges to care for patients in communities that have difficulties attracting and hiring essential personnel. Addressing these workforce issues and shortages creatively will be crucial for maintaining the quality of care in emergency medicine.
Greater Focus on Public Health Preparedness and Health Equity in Emergency Medicine
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of emergency preparedness and response, a core aspect of emergency medicine. Future developments in infectious disease management, including vaccines and treatments, will influence how emergency medicine physicians keep our communities safe. COVID also brought to light the huge disparities in treatment across communities. Efforts to address health care disparities and improve access to care will lead to changes in how we care for underserved communities and shrink the nation’s geographic disparities in health outcomes. We are entering a time of unprecedented collaboration between hospital-based professionals, specialists, primary care offices, EMS personnel, and other resources with the hope of weaving together a stronger health care safety net.
Customer Service in Emergency Medicine (Lest We Forget)
Lastly, and perhaps the easiest, we’re in a service industry. And not just any service, but perhaps the most sacred service industry: health care. We should consistently celebrate our contributions and successes as a team, highlighting the good work we enable every day in emergency medicine. Our goal is to never underappreciate the value of the lives that are touched by our teams of emergency medicine physicians and hospital medicine professionals. We should celebrate the recruiting/hiring of a new clinician as more than a position-filled metric: it is bringing a new caregiver into a community that desperately needs a health care clinician’s expertise, compassion, and contributions.
As we celebrate National Hospital Week, we extend our gratitude to clinicians for their tireless dedication and commitment to improving the well-being of communities. The future of health care envisions a landscape where innovation and humanity converge, shaping our healthiest generation.