Published article in Healthcare Business Today

The future of healthcare — nothing brought about more questions, and tested the healthcare industry more than the last two years. 2020 brought us challenges, unknowns, and reasons to reinvent how healthcare was delivered. 2021 brought several opportunities for innovation, to find solutions and to change the way things are done.

Last January the leadership team at Verinovum made several bold predictions about healthcare data that could shape the industry for years to come. In addition to predictions about COVID-19 and the future of telehealth, the team looked at more complex healthcare challenges that payers and providers would need to consider in the months and years to come.

Going into the last quarter of 2021, let’s look at how a few of the team’s predictions stacked up against reality.

Prediction #1 – The number of Americans willing to be vaccinated against COVID will be less than 50%.

When 2021 began, vaccines were just beginning to be distributed to a select group of healthcare providers following FDA emergency approval. At the time, the new vaccines promised to protect upwards of 90% of those properly vaccinated, but many were skeptical about the prospect of a new vaccine. These uncertainties and the fear of having adverse reactions created a barrier toward achieving the desired vaccination rates.

Through an ongoing educational and informational sharing campaign — with payers, providers, government entities, and community organizations working alongside and in conjunction with each other — the safety of vaccines has been widely publicized, however this prediction hit remarkably close to reality.

As of August 3, about 189.9 million people — only 57% of the total U.S. population — have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to latest figures from the CDC. About 163.9 million people, or 49% of the total U.S. population, have now been fully vaccinated.

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