While in 2020 many healthcare organizations saw their financial plans obliterated, patient behaviors radically shift and virtual care explode, in 2021 they will work to put the system back together. Not to how it always was—but in a way that reimagines healthcare delivery, reconnects broken pathways and makes a giant leap toward a consumer-centric healthcare system. 

Nearly overnight, as volumes dropped precipitously, the deadly pandemic thrust patients, doctors, pharmaceutical companies and payers headfirst onto virtual platforms and other digital technologies that many had previously approached with hesitation. The sudden experiment allowed for valuable insights that health organizations in 2021 can use to fine-tune where they should land on the spectrum of virtual and in-person—in ways that make the most sense for care delivery, patient experience, reimbursement and clinical research. The insights also can help healthcare organizations navigate vaccine distribution as well as the ebbs and flows of patient volumes due to COVID-19 in the year ahead.

In this year’s Top health industry issues report, PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) examines how the healthcare industry is expected to face the uncertainty of 2021, building resilience for long-term survival by developing its own forecasting systems, reshaping business portfolios post-pandemic for financial stability and growth, and creating a more nimble, modern supply chain.