Building a Better Healthcare System: Continuing Trends, A Different Lens
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janvier 22, 2025
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This article is part of our four-part series on building a better healthcare system. Explore the other parts of the series: Behavioral Health: The Massive ROI Behind Unlocking Happiness, Senior Care: Rethinking the Age-Old Problem, a $349B Opportunity, Women’s Health: Unlocking Immense ROI for the Predominant Healthcare Decision-Maker.
As we begin 2025, the flood of industry predictions continues, with many highlighting the latest trends and potential disruptions. However, after years of similar forecasts, the time for speculation is over. The healthcare system has reached a critical juncture, and while much has been discussed, real progress has often been elusive.
Individual and family healthcare debt is at an all-time high,1 mental health issues among children are rising at alarming rates,2 women are spending more of their lives in poor health,3 and the needs of an aging population are increasingly ignored.4 Frustration is mounting, and extremism is gaining traction as a response to systemic failure.5
Q2 2025 Healthcare Quarter in Review
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As we enter the new year, one truth remains undeniable: significant change is required, and it must begin with rethinking how we approach healthcare. The key to transformation lies in putting the users at the center of the system. By prioritizing the healthcare consumer experience, we can begin to create a system that delivers lasting improvements. While healthcare journeys are unique, five key areas are consistent across the board and must be addressed to create a truly effective system.
The “5Cs” of Human-Centered Healthcare Transformation
Transforming the healthcare system requires a clear, actionable framework that prioritizes the needs of consumers. The “5Cs” — Compassion, Care, Convenience, Content and Cost — articulate the core values and underlying drivers of the healthcare experience. Each “C” is a foundational pillar, and together, they establish the principles necessary for a more equitable, efficient and effective healthcare experience. Below, we outline each C and provide an example of it in practice:
Compassion: Care must be personalized, delivered with empathy, and tailored to each consumer’s unique goals and needs.
- Example of implementing compassion: Match seniors with individuals in their communities based on shared interest to create ad hoc care support that reduces feelings of isolation and alleviates the burden on traditional caregivers.
Care: Care should originate from the best providers and leverage cutting-edge research to drive the highest quality possible.
- Example of implementing care: Leverage digital patient twins, which combine imaging results, dietary patterns, geographical data and blood biomarkers to help model potential health risks or disease scenarios at the individual level and estimate how a consumer might be affected by a treatment prior to use.
Convenience: Care should be accessible anytime, anywhere, helping consumers navigate the complexities of healthcare with ease.
- Example of implementing convenience: Build a robust digital front door for behavioral health with curated materials and diagnostic tools that help to triage consumers to the right place and create ease in engagement, eliminating the difficulty with accessing services.
Content: Consumers should be empowered with accurate, relevant information from trusted experts, allowing them to make informed decisions about their health.
- Example of implementing content: Embed behavioral health information in communities (in schools, workplaces, community centers, etc.) to foster awareness and destigmatize behavioral health, which is traditionally a significant barrier to accessing support.
Cost: High-quality care must be affordable, transparent and financially manageable for consumers.
- Example of implementing cost: Reassess the perceived value for women’s health treatments to ensure women’s health services are properly compensated and reimbursed, acknowledging gender-based difference and helping to reduce financial barriers for providers in delivering care and for patients in receiving care.
Source: FTI Consulting
What’s Next?
In the coming weeks, FTI Consulting will release a series of articles diving deeply into three critical areas for 2025, examining them through the lens of the 5Cs and presenting actionable solutions to create an ideal healthcare consumer experience:
- Senior Care: Rethinking the Age-Old Problem, a $349B Opportunity6
- Women’s Health: Unlocking Immense ROI for the Predominant Healthcare Decision-Maker7
- Behavioral Health: The Massive ROI of Unlocking Happiness
These areas are rife with complex challenges that will not be easily solved, but we are here to help rethink the approach and seize the opportunity to make meaningful change. For too long, terms like “disjointed,” “costly” and “ineffective” have described the healthcare system. However, it is no longer sufficient to merely point out the problems — we must address them, now. Our focus will be on understanding the 5Cs for these populations and developing actionable solutions that bring the ideal consumer experience to life.
Our papers will offer valuable insights into the current state of these population segments, the key trends shaping their future, and the innovative solutions that are driving transformation. We will also examine emerging care models, investment opportunities, and actionable strategies that can help organizations make meaningful strides and achieve value. We will dive deeply into what this means for patients, providers, payers, government officials and private equity firms.
We understand that revenue is critical for hospitals to treat patients and offset expenses based on reimbursement. Delivering an exceptional consumer experience is not mutually exclusive with strong financial performance. When executed with integrity and rigor, human-centered design uncovers the root causes of challenges and fosters innovative solutions that drive meaningful change. This approach has the potential to transform cost drivers into revenue generators. By adopting a forward-thinking perspective, we demonstrate how a more strategic approach centered around the 5Cs can unlock significant opportunities for both economic and systemic progress.
We invite you to join us on this journey to build a more equitable and effective healthcare system. The future of healthcare is not a distant vision — it’s something we can begin shaping today.
Footnotes:
1: “The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States,” Kaiser Family Foundation (December 14, 2021).
2: “Exploring Barriers to Mental Health Care in the U.S.,” AAMC Research Institute (2021).
3: “Closing the Women's Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies,” World Economic Forum (May 18, 2022).
4: NBC News. “Elder Care Costs Are Outpacing Inflation, and Americans Want a Lifeline.” NBC News, January 12, 2025.
5: Harris, Gardiner. “Health Insurance ‘Prior Authorization’ Process Delays Care and Harms Patients, Advocates Say.” The Guardian, 31 Dec. 2024.
6: “Geriatric Care Services Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Service (Home Care, Institutional Care), by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, MEA), and Segment Forecasts, 2023 – 2030,” Grand View Research (January 2023).
7: Baird, Matthew D., Melanie A. Zaber, Annie Chen, Andrew W. Dick, Chloe E. Bird, Molly Waymouth, Grace Gahlon, Denise D. Quigley, Hamad Al-Ibrahim, and Lori Frank, “The Case to Fund Women's Health Research,” The Wham Report (2021).
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Date
janvier 22, 2025
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