In the most recent episode of Coronavirus: The Truth from the Fixing Healthcare Podcast with Robbie Pearl, MD, and Jeremy Corr, Dr. Pearl recognized the importance of looking further into the future. This foresight can be a challenge when our brain is so wired to attend to a current threat.

“It is hard during a time of massive social change to envision the next reality. Listeners who want to know when we will return to normal will be disappointed by the answer because the answer is never. The right questions are what will the new normal.”

We can already see trends and hypothesize where they will lead us. Many of the shifts will not be an either/or dynamic, but rather a shift in ratios of behavior that could have lasting impact on the economy, assumptions, and other dynamics.

For instance, the dramatic shift to telephonic and video-based care was dramatic, but we also now see greater numbers of people returning to in-person medical care. Where will we land? It’s unlikely that the level of virtual care delivered will remain, but it is also unlikely that people will revert to the previous primarily in-person model as the pandemic wanes.

So an important question to ask is: How does a change in ratio of in-person to virtual visits shift workflows, referral patterns, sites of care, patient segmentation, etc. Similar ratio-adjustment perspective can be applied to other changes, such as working from home, reductions in travel, membership to gyms, etc. These questions are well addressed in scenario planning sessions that are constructed to help participants step into the future and experience it.

Click to learn more about how Spring Street can help you organization prepare for the future…