Australian Healthcare Industry Report! Exploring the Pandemic Effect and Outlook in 2022

For the past two years, the effects of the sustained pandemic have exerted inordinate pressure on healthcare systems globally, with Australia being no exception. Besides severely stretching the resources of overwhelmed healthcare systems in the more affluent nations, smaller and under-resourced nations have had to deal with a lack of vaccines supply, thus causing them to be threatened by a surge in infections and other myriad negative impacts the situation brings.

To meet this challenge head-on, new models of healthcare provision, digital services, and infrastructure are being rolled out to meet the growing needs of the Australian public. Simultaneously however, significant gaps are manifesting in the inter-connectivity and policies pertaining to primary, aged and acute healthcare services in Australia.

Faced with the looming new year, Australia's healthcare sector must be willing to veer from peer-to-peer solutions to system-wide sustainability programs.

What are some of the technological breakthroughs, solutions, and healthcare skills enhancement programs that will help in achieving these goals?

To help answer this question, BioClub, China Australia Medical Industry Park and Australian Healthcare Week have co-released the Australian Healthcare Industry Report 2022. This report collates the insights of more than 100 Australian healthcare professionals to reveal how the pandemic has affected their investments and brought about adjustments to priorities, and to provide insight into what will affect the healthcare industry in Australia in 2022 and beyond.

Here, we will take a peek at some highlights, however, if you are keen on dissecting the full report, please follow the prompts after this article to obtain a copy.

Which is the most critical thing in managing the challenges posed by Covid-19?

After two years of COVID-19 raging, the intent in the health sector is to move beyond point solution implementation and onto sector-wide sustainability.

As we transition into 2022 the intent in the health sector is to move beyond point solution implementation and onto sector-wide sustainability. The Report shows that only 14% saw it as key to lessening the impact of the coronavirus. People believe that workforce upskilling and training is the most critical in managing the challenges posed by COVID-19 at 23% of respondents.

How much was invested to ensure healthcare environments were able to operate?

The level of investment in workplace transformation was also a point for discussion. A third of respondents noted that their workplace spent over AU$201,000 on COVID-safe investments, while almost a quarter of respondents indicated a spend of 51,000 – 150,000. Looking beyond the pandemic, population pressure (44%) was seen as the biggest issue prompting infrastructure investment, followed by 22% of respondents indicating that a need to meet new delivery models and changing patient expectations as the second and third biggest reasons.

Digital transformation changes the health care system

93% of respondents stated that either their workplace had become more digital or that they believe the pandemic should have been further leveraged to boost digitality in the workplace. This shift has been noticed by employees too, with 36% noting increased workplace efficiency, 14% noting that there is a much higher level of accessibility in the medical sector due to telehealth technology, and 13% believing that better patient management is the biggest benefit of digital care.

Which healthcare workforce challenge was most exacerbated by the pandemic?

When it comes to health care providers, respondents were asked to say which workforce challenge was most exacerbated by the pandemic. 33% of respondents stated that the largest issue was with mental health and wellbeing. Recent research has shown that 16.7% of COVID nurses tested had a high probability of PTSD, which likely contributed to the second exacerbated issue. 20% of respondents believe that attracting and retaining talent has become more difficult, with a further 20% believing there is a skills gap for new employees to overcome.

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