The recent IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Healthcare Industry 2023 Predictions report offers some fascinating and provocative forecasts for what the next year – and years – might hold for care delivery and the technologies deployed to improve it.

"Technological strategies and capabilities will determine how healthcare organizations navigate the aftereffects of the global COVID-19 pandemic combined with the impact of everything from inflationary pressures to supply chain constraints, labor and skills shortages, the Russia-Ukraine War, and other geopolitical threats," said IDC Health Insights research director Mutaz Shegewi in a statement when the report was published.

"Healthcare organizations also face escalating cybersecurity risks, shifting care models, and an ongoing need to strive for service excellence while addressing broader, systemic challenges," he added. "Opportunities present alongside each challenge; however, healthcare organizations must act quickly because the next five years will prove that the storms are not temporary but lasting and interwoven."

Shegewi spoke with us recently to walk through the 10 predictions for 2023 and beyond and unpack what some of them will mean for the industry.

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Talking points:

• Centering "trust" to protect data, workflows and transactions.

• Hybrid work models with "virtualized, automated and intelligent" workplaces.

• What maturation of 5G networks might mean in the near future.

• How roles for robotics will be expanding beyond surgery.

• Why data-driven policies can help scale up health-equity efforts.

• AI-powered command centers can boost operations and care delivery.

• The future of the metaverse in healthcare.

More about this episode:

HIMSSCast: Predicting what's next for health IT, mobile tech and health system finances

HIMSSCast: What the midterm elections mean for healthcare in 2023

What do these IT leaders see for healthcare in 2023? 'Flux'

Digital health 2023: Cloud, human-centered design and getting back to basics

What 2023 holds for EHR optimization, SDOH, patient access, health equity and more

For 2023, patient experience, 'smarter' analytics and data-driven medicine

Looking ahead to 2023: AI, machine learning, RTLS and robotic process automation