Healthcare Is Heading Home, and That’s a Good Thing!

During my long career in healthcare, one of the biggest trends in healthcare delivery has been the shift from hospital / inpatient to outpatient care. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of outpatient services was roughly 8 percent from 2017 to 2022, while inpatient services grew 1-3 percent during the same period. Outpatient services now represent more than 50 percent of total U.S. healthcare spending.Particularly during the past 20 years, there has been significant growth in new outpatient facilities and channels, including retail-based and urgent care clinics, freestanding ERs, imaging centers, dialysis centers, ambulatory surgery centers, rehabilitation clinics, behavioral health clinics, and telehealth / virtual care.