Six Under-the-Radar Trends You Should be Thinking About in 2021
It’s safe to say that 2020 was a year of surprises, right up until the very end. Even in the waning days of the year, the federal government dropped several unexpected pieces of regulatory guidance. These undoubtedly will shape the healthcare landscape for 2021 beginning with the final rule on use of electronic prior authorization under Medicare Part D.
That said, I don’t want other trends to get lost in the sound and the fury surrounding only federal rule drops. That’s why I wanted to start off with a handful of under-the-radar trends. I’m paying attention to them as 2021 begins and you should be thinking about them, too. My six picks are as follows.
Health IT Under a Biden Administration: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?
With a flurry of dropped regulations at the end of 2020 and now in the early days of the new Biden Administration, you may be expecting a wholesale change in a new Administration’s approach to health information technology (health IT). I’m not.
Now, it goes without saying that policy, in general, is going to change dramatically under a Biden Administration. Democrats and Republicans have VERY different philosophies and core principles. However, one thing I’ve observed over the years is that both Democrats and Republicans tend to agree that health IT is part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Jan 20, 2021 4:40pm
Nearly $20 million in new investments will support opportunities to track vaccination progress, help clinicians pinpoint and contact high-risk patients, and coordinate appointments for patients due to receive the second dose of the vaccine. (Getty/Meyer & Meyer)
As the nation continues to ramp up distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, providers will need to track patients due to receive the second dose of the vaccine and better identify high-risk patients.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, acting through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), is making major investments to help increase data sharing between health information exchanges (HIEs) and immunization information systems.
Even before the start of the pandemic, the medical marijuana industry was already one of the fastest-growing sectors, statistics showing that 48% of Americans had used marijuana in their lifetime. But, with the pandemic, the industry grew even more, and telehealth has had a significant role to play. In the past months, virtual doctor''s visits have been critical in reducing the spread of the novel coronavirus, and federal governments and insurers have covered them financially.