Weekly Business Insights 12/24/2024
Top 10: Predictions for 2025. 2025 Healthcare Cost Outlook | Drivers & Trend Insights. The U.S. Healthcare Supply Chain in 2025: Leaders Prepare for Tariffs While Old Structures Erode.
Top 10: Predictions for 2025
Procurement stands at the heart of business operations, driving value and efficiency across global supply chains. As we approach the coming year, the field faces a landscape rich with both opportunities and challenges that require careful strategic consideration. Strategic planning in procurement is far more than a routine task; it's a critical lever for maintaining a competitive edge in an ever-evolving business environment.
Integrating AI into procurement isn't just a technical upgrade; it’s a game-changer for modern businesses. By automating repetitive tasks, AI frees teams to focus on strategy and innovation. It processes vast data at lightning speed, delivering real-time insights that drive smarter decisions and cost efficiencies. Supplier management gets a boost too—AI optimises contracts, fosters strong relationship and identifies risks like fraud or instability. Scalable and adaptable, it empowers procurement teams to forecast demand, negotiate better deals and process invoices swiftly, ultimately boosting productivity and performance.
From leveraging advanced AI technologies to championing sustainable sourcing practices, procurement teams have the opportunity to revolutionise their approach to value creation and risk management. But change is imminent: "In 2025, this hesitation will end." A Gartner survey echoes this, showing 72% of procurement leaders prioritising AI, with transformative impacts on decision-making and innovation.
Top 10: Predictions for 2025 | Procurement Magazine
2025 Healthcare Cost Outlook | Drivers & Trend Insights
Healthcare providers have battled significant financial challenges for the past several years, driven by the increased cost of care. Increased operating expenses for labor, supplies and infrastructure have outpaced increases in reimbursement rates. This environment has led to a compounding effect on provider contract negotiations. Based on conversations with national carriers, underlying medical trends are expected to include an additional 0.5%-1.0% for 2025, reflecting the expected inflationary and labor market impacts.
While broader inflation markers have been trending closer to targets, medical inflation can lag by as much as 12 months because of the three-year term of many provider contracts. The initial impacts of these contract renewals were seen in 2023 and 2024, but they are anticipated to continue into 2025 and beyond. Elevated costs for services will likely drive increases in costs for employers due to these renegotiated contracts.
Provider consolidation has also led to increased reimbursements, driven by additional market leverage gained via consolidation. Private equity-owned facilities and physician groups have also been associated with higher healthcare spend.
2025 Healthcare Cost Outlook | Drivers & Trend Insights - Brown & Brown
The U.S. Healthcare Supply Chain in 2025: Leaders Prepare for Tariffs While Old Structures Erode
When healthcare slowly returned to “normal,” hospitals quickly resorted to the old ways. The pendulum swung all the way back to focusing primarily on cost reductions. However, healthcare supply chain leaders took a lesson with them: While cost is king, the healthcare system needs to fundamentally update its supply chain system to reduce vulnerability and to bring hospital purchasing and consumption up to date with the newest technologies, data use techniques, and forecasting tools
From an operational standpoint, the strongest focus for U.S. health systems today (beyond cost containment) is on innovation and technology. Health system leaders want an actionable, forward-looking understanding of the “life of supply” – that is, real-time visibility into supply and demand as opposed to historical numbers in the rearview mirror. Getting to advanced, actionable analytics is the key, and this means leveraging generative AI and other advanced tools.
In terms of technology, healthcare has a lot of catch-up to do compared with other industries. However, there are several examples of companies and solutions that enable health systems to benefit from piecemeal technology modernization and, with limited integration, adopt newer technologies to make the supply chain more efficient and effective.