International law firm Proskauer today released the results from its inaugural health care survey, Checking Up on the Quest for the Triple Aim, which finds streamlining operating costs and improving data privacy and security are primary business concerns for health care executives—with a third (32%) ranking these objectives as a “top three” business challenge over the next year.

“As the health care industry continues to evolve and new players enter the space, it’s imperative for health care executives to understand where they are thriving, where they are falling short and have a clear plan for the year ahead,” said Richard Zall, partner and chair of Proskauer’s Health Care Group. “Identifying the core challenges and opportunities executives face allows our clients to be even more successful in navigating the evolving landscape.”

In considering the three pillars of The Triple Aim—a framework from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement that focuses on reducing health care costs, improving the patient experience and improving the health of populations—the survey found:

• Health care companies are eager to improve patient experience and service efficiency. When asked about the top industry-wide changes required to better promote value-based care, executives noted improving employee training in the use of electronic data (44%), incentivizing participation in existing information sharing consortia (37%) and incentivizing vendors to offer EHR products that are interoperable (36%) as the top changes required.
• Technology is a focal point for health care M&A targets. To overcome emerging business challenges, 31%—the plurality—of respondents (with an identified target in mind) cited a technology company to acquire artificial intelligence capabilities as their top M&A target in the next 12-24 months.
• Aside from GDPR compliance, cybersecurity is still a shortcoming for health care organizations. When asked to select which measures are being taken to protect against cyber threats, no more than a third of health care organizations currently leverage any single cybersecurity best practice, such as implementing an accident response plan or using data encryption.
• Health care executives and regulators have become greater allies, not adversaries, when it comes to improving outcomes. When health care executives were asked to rank CMS on a scale of one to 10 (with 10 being highly effective) when it comes to fostering innovation, more than half (52%) of executives gave CMS a score of 8 or higher. Additionally, only 15% of health care organizations cited complying with federal, state and local regulations as a top three most pressing business challenge in the year ahead.

This survey was commissioned by Proskauer and conducted by Rabin Research Company, a market research firm based in Chicago. Results are based on 100 completed surveys of C-suite health care executives from across the care continuum. The survey was conducted in February 2019.

Additional information about the Firm can be found at www.proskauer.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190610005405/en/