Behavioral health is primed to be the biggest area for growth in healthcare over the next decade, and hospital executives are adjusting their strategies accordingly, with 80 percent saying they plan to hire more behavioral health providers in 2023.
The figure comes from a new Guidehouse Center for Health Insights report based on a survey of 182 hospital and health system CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other executives.
Six things to know from the report:
1. Ninety-five percent of hospital and health system executives are projecting outpatient volumes to increase in 2023.
2. Leaders are projecting digital care as their greatest budget increase, followed by revenue cycle automation.
3. Forty-three percent of executives said technology adoption and integration has been beneficial to their growth strategies. Three out of every four leaders stated they would be increasing hiring in IT, coding, and revenue cycle this year.
4. When asked about 2023 growth strategies, 96 percent said the state of their workforce is hampering their goals, with 62 percent citing a "significantly negative" impact.
5. More than 40 percent plan to reduce their contractors and traveling clinicians by 10 percent or more, while about a third of executives said they will be hiring more.
6. With the expected increase in outpatient care, almost 90 percent of executives plan to hire more advanced practitioners in 2023.