As healthcare continues to evolve, providers face a critical crossroads in how they deliver care, engage patients, and navigate shifting industry dynamics. Trends such as value-based care (VBC), increased outpatient services, and advances in AI technology are reshaping patient expectations and the patient-provider relationship. At the same time, the rise in behavioral health and chronic care management needs present new challenges – and opportunities – for health systems.
What does this mean for healthcare providers in 2025? The common denominator and key to success is based on delivering personalized, patient-centric experiences that address evolving demands while balancing cost, quality, and security. This article explores five key trends that will shape healthcare providers’ strategies in the coming year and outlines how they can prepare to thrive in a rapidly changing landscape.
1. With an Increase in VBC Models, Providers will Need a More Holistic, Comprehensive View of Patients
Over the past few years there has been a big shift in the patient-provider relationship due to an increasing number of patients enrolled in value-based care (VBC) models that reward physicians on quality of care and improved long-term outcomes, vs. a traditional fee-for-service compensation model. According to McKinsey, by 2027 there will be 90 million patients in VBC models, more than double the number in 2022.
When healthcare systems make the gradual shift to a VBC model, providers have more of a vested interest in a patient’s overall health, which changes the dynamic of the patient-provider relationship. The goal of VBC is to promote integrated care, delivering high-quality care services and optimizing costs using a patient-centered approach. It involves care teams working together to address all health needs, including mental health and social determinants, to tailor an individualized care plan and provide continuous monitoring, education, and support, which entails open lines of personalized and consistent communication.
To accomplish this goal, providers need to have a deep understanding of a patient and a patient’s ongoing needs. For instance, in a VBC model, health systems can adopt a holistic approach to managing Type 2 diabetes, focusing on patient outcomes and cost reduction. A multidisciplinary team, including physicians, dietitians, and diabetes educators, would collaborate to create personalized care plans. These plans feature continuous glucose monitoring for real-time data, comprehensive patient education to empower self-management, and coordinated care to address comorbidities. Behavioral health support would also be provided to manage the psychological impact of diabetes. Additionally, providers can connect patients with community resources, such as local gyms and nutrition programs, and address social determinants of health (SDoH) by ensuring access to affordable medications and healthy food. This integrated approach not only improves diabetes management but also enhances overall quality of life, reduces emergency care needs, and lowers long-term healthcare costs.
To provide such comprehensive care and support requires a deep patient understanding. As the trend toward value-based care grows, more health systems will prioritize the collection of patient data to deliver a personalized healthcare experience that is a hallmark of the value-based care movement.
2. A Shift to Outpatient Care will Heighten the Need for Dynamic Patient Journey Personalization
There are currently more than 14,000 urgent care centers in the United States, with the growth rate for new centers hovering at about 7 percent, according to the Urgent Care Association, which studied their growing influence on the post-Covid healthcare ecosystem. Furthermore, the association estimates that urgent care facilities prevent approximately 24.5 million emergency room visits annually. Additionally, outpatient care centers provide an opportunity, through comprehensive patient understanding and personalized follow-up, to drive acquisition for the health system they are affiliated with.
Once a patient accesses care – an insect bite, a sinus infection, a UTI, etc. – an urgent care center will only know it has prevented the patient from an eventual visit to the ER through follow-up. A call, an email, or a survey let a clinic know how the patient responded to the care, the patient’s level of satisfaction and intent to visit the facility for future urgent care needs. As with VBC, the more a health system knows about the patient, the better care it can provide, both at point of care and long-term. Did the patient visit urgent care because of convenience? Was it a scheduling issue with a PCP? Does the patient have a PCP? Does the patient have any underlying and potentially unaddressed health conditions?
The decentralization of care is driving health systems to focus on gaining a deeper understanding of their patients, not only to ensure continuity of care but also to maintain financial sustainability in an increasingly competitive landscape. Unified and actionable medical and behavioral data enable urgent care centers to execute targeted marketing campaigns and serve as vital entry points for engaging new patients. Simultaneously, hospitals can leverage affiliated specialized ambulatory centers for cross-promotion and referrals, reducing the risk of patient leakage. By adopting this integrated approach, health systems can deliver more personalized, closed-loop care journeys, setting themselves apart from competitors and fostering long-term patient loyalty.
3. Behavioral Health and Chronic Care Management Will Change the Patient-Provider Dynamic
One trend shaping the healthcare economy is the upswing in patients seeking behavioral health and chronic care services. Roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population is expected to utilize behavioral health services by 2027, while about 90 percent of the nation’s $4.5 trillion in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
Consistent long-term patient engagement is vital to managing both behavioral health and chronic conditions, especially if they involve one or more comorbidities. To make a positive impact on patient outcomes, providers need to understand the patient beyond their medical record. Only then are they able to build personalized open lines of communication to improve engagement and follow-up. In the case of behavioral health, for example, a medication regimen might undergo continual change based on many different factors including side effects, lifestyle changes, life stage, job change, sleep patterns, etc. Knowing everything there is to know about a patient – how engaged the patient is with their care, health risk, preferred methods of communication, motivations, SDoH, etc. – helps providers personalize the healthcare experience, leading to increased engagement, better adherence and improved outcomes.
4. AI Investment in Healthcare Will Continue to Experience Significant Growth
According to Management Group Medical Associates (MGMA), AI investments in healthcare are expected to surge to $150 billion over the next five years (from $20 billion in 2024). Enhanced “patient and member engagement and experience” ranked second in anticipated generative AI (GenAI) healthcare use cases, just behind clinical productivity and just ahead of administrative efficiency.
Patient communication tools – digital front door, conversational AI – highlighted the member engagement use case as examples GenAI having the potential to re-shape the patient-provider relationship. Other use cases for AI in healthcare include using machine learning to create personalized care plans as well as personalized patient outreach and follow-up.
For each use case, a provider must have a unified patient profile that includes all relevant patient data. A detailed and up-to-date medical history, yes, but also patient preferences and behaviors, clinical and claims data, SDoH, etc. A real time patient profile with clean, high-quality data will ensure that AI is training on the right dataset and will then produce the most relevant patient experience, whether a personalized plan, a chatbot interaction, or answering a patient’s questions through a LLM.
5. Health Systems Will Continue to Prioritize Data Security
According to the 2024 HIPAA Journal Healthcare Data Breach Report, healthcare ransomware attacks went up 278 percent between 2018-2023, with hacking-related incidents up 239 percent in the same timeframe, causing massive disruption for the affected providers. In one major breach, the amount of data stolen in one attack on a healthcare organization potentially put the PHI of 110 million Americans at risk.
To safeguard against data breaches, 2025 will see more healthcare systems be mindful of how they collect and use patient data, for marketing and other business purposes. For an increasing number of healthcare organizations, keeping patient data – particularly PHI – behind the organization’s own firewall is a prerequisite. Because of this, more healthcare systems will keep their technology infrastructure on-premises or use a private cloud where patient data – whether in an EHR or a marketing platform – will remain in place using a modern data cloud.
Data quality and personalization will be the cornerstone of success for health systems navigating the healthcare complexities of 2025. Whether adapting to value-based care models, leveraging AI for patient engagement, or prioritizing data security, the ability to deliver tailored, patient-centric experiences will define the leaders of tomorrow. By embracing these trends and focusing on a holistic understanding of patient needs, providers can not only improve outcomes but also build stronger, more trusted relationships with the patients they serve. The organizations that invest in data readiness and personalization today will be the ones shaping the future of healthcare.
