Maine’s hospitals, clinics and other health care organizations have been ground zero of the pandemic. Even with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines and the widespread adoption of remote technology, the industry will be hard pressed in 2021.
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As 2021 begins, COVID-19 continues to upend nearly every type of business in Maine. But perhaps none have been affected as much as the health care industry.
Almost overnight, hospitals, clinics and other providers have become ground zero in the greatest public health crisis of a century. Doctors, nurses and countless other health care workers have been hailed as heroes.
It’s now clear that the demands on health care won’t abate any time soon. Meanwhile, three trends are likely to influence health care delivery and health care insurance in Maine over the year ahead.
1. The challenges of labor supply and demand will continue and probably grow worse
As Mainebiz has frequently reported, the state is grappling with a shortage of health care workers that preceded the pandemic. But the crisis has only aggravated the gap.
In addition to needing more personnel in general, hospitals and other providers desperately lack people with specialized abilities.
2. Vaccine administration will be a huge undertaking
The launch of COVID-19 vaccines has been welcome news. But the rollout has been slower than expected. And experts say the vaccines may not make a meaningful impact on the pandemic until the summer or fall.
But scattershot availability could create bottlenecks preventing the state from inoculating enough people to achieve “herd immunity.” While vaccines have gone to hospitals, pharmacies, home health services and EMS providers, the industry is pushing for community health clinics to also begin immunizing. Other sites are needed too.
Wherever the shots are given, they’ll require significant time and resources. Two doses of vaccine are necessary, which could create record-keeping burdens. Maine has a population of 1.34 million people, with only about 3% inoculated so far.
3. Telehealth is here to stay
The use of remote technologies to deliver medical care has become big business during the pandemic but is more than a passing fad.
One indication of how telehealth has caught on: Before the pandemic, the Medicare program provided 13,000 virtual medical visits each week throughout the country, but by the end or April the number had shot to 1.7 million.
It’s expected telehealth will continue to be a large part of the delivery system even after people return to in-person care settings. Remote technologies will play an especially vital role in Maine, where great distances often separate patients and providers.
“It’s been an absolute revolution, just since last spring,” Joanne Rawlings-Sekunda of the Maine Bureau of Insurance said at the 2020 Mainebiz Health Care Forum, held virtually in December.
