What to expect from 2019 – healthcare industry trends and innovations

What does the year ahead hold for the heathcare industry? We asked some of Medibank's senior leaders about what trends and innovations they expect to see.

Craig Drummond, CEO
2019 will be the year of even greater change. We’ve seen more reform in private health insurance in the last 12 months than in the past 18 years and this year we’ll undertake the biggest product build in Medibank and ahm history – with six key Government reforms being implemented. As demand for choice in where healthcare is delivered increases, expect some ongoing significant investment in at-home care and telehealth. Greater transparency will also be a focus for us, as we continue working with hospitals and doctors to help customers make more informed decisions about their healthcare.

David Koczkar, Chief Customer Officer
We’ll see our customers having more choice, control and incentives to achieve better health. There will be a greater focus on proactive and preventative health and Medibank will continue to support our customers to improve their individual experiences and outcomes. We will continue to proactively reach out to our customers to ensure we are providing them with the right products and services to suit their needs, and our customers will be able to access more self-service options to allow them to take more control over their experiences in health.

Dr Andrew Wilson, Group Executive, Healthcare & Strategy
In 2019 we'll continue to expand and develop our Medibank at Home options to include new services such as Home Infusions. This means we will be offering or trialling six different hospital-in-the-home services, providing more real choice for our customers, when clinically appropriate for them to receive treatment at home. We're also exploring how we can support doctors to provide surgical best practice in Australia, with international work showing many procedures can be safely done as same-day rather than overnight stays. This would provide more convenience for patients if clinically appropriate, meaning they can return to family and friends sooner.

Kylie Bishop, Group Executive, People and Culture
In 2019, I believe we’ll increasingly see organisations take greater responsibility and show leadership on community and societal issues. As an employer of more than 4,000 people, it’s important for us to realise our impact beyond the workplace and into homes. Companies need to regularly review how policies and practices support employees outside of work too, allowing them to bring their whole self to work. Employers can drive change, whether it’s about gender stereotypes, parental leave, domestic violence, or looking beyond traditional models of “work” and loudly endorsing more flexible ways of working.

John Goodall, Group Executive , Technology & Operations
I’m expecting there will be a heightened expectation from our customers on the breadth, quality, security and coordination of their digital health records from the GP, specialist, hospital and private health insurer. For example the UK’s public health system, the National Health Service, recently announced it will ban fax machines from 2020. Health systems around the world have been slow to catch up with health technology and Australia isn’t immune.