Healthcare Trends to Watch as We Enter 2025

Sometimes, the only constant is change. And nowhere is this statement truer than in the healthcare sector. Though the current landscape might not be as tumultuous as it was a half-decade ago, the environment certainly isn’t stagnant.

Over the past five years, telehealth went from promising technology to necessity—and from necessity to driving force. GLP-1s went from diabetes medications to weight loss drugs. Hospital systems consolidated… yet consumer choices diversified.

And over the next five years, the formerly nascent technology will mature. Early adopters will gain an edge. Consumers will expect more. Organizations throughout the sector will need to rise to the occasion to meet changing expectations, technologies, and demands.

Today, we’re taking a step back and digging into the tactical changes, trends, and predictions proposed by some of the world’s leading consultants—and discussing how they might impact you over the next year or so.

Trend 1: More Consumerism

As costs increase, consumers expect more value from the money they spend. Sometimes, this is as simple as seeking out the best of the best. Other times, it involves a consumer making trade-offs. Either way, they’re doing more research about the features, benefits, and alternatives that exist.

According to McKinsey, these shopping behaviors aren’t limited to a single facet—and span everything from insurance to wellness.

• 45 percent of surveyed consumers report researching providers and in-network costs before choosing a health insurance plan.

• 44 percent of healthcare consumers research providers before making an appointment. And those who do look at two to three providers before making a decision.

Takeaway: Deliver Openness, Education, and Access to Information

With more access to information than ever, consumers are actively taking their health into their own hands. And healthcare organizations that are able to meet them where they are serve to gain. But how? Meet the consumer where they are, make their decision easy, deliver transparency, and provide good information.

Throughout a consumer’s healthcare journey, they want you to be present, helpful, and empathetic. Make use of the information they provide to customize and personalize experiences, deliver accurate cost structures, and aim to be there when they need you.

Trend 2: Higher Expectations, Lower Satisfaction

It should go as no surprise that increasing consumerism means increased expectations.  

Today’s healthcare consumer isn’t just spending more, they are more aware of the money they spend. After nearly half a decade of economic instability and inflation, consumers have become increasingly aware of decreasing returns.

These factors combined result in another trend impacting the way healthcare works… increased dissatisfaction. And nowhere is this statement more prevalent than the wellness space.

Takeaway: Win, Retain, or Win Back

Consumers are looking for support. They’re looking for value. And they’re looking for meaningful engagement throughout their healthcare journey. Across the healthcare spectrum, there’s an opportunity to win new business by highlighting your commitment to holistic healthcare.

According to McKinsey,

“The disconnect between high consumer importance and spending and relatively low satisfaction presents a meaningful opportunity for healthcare organizations to distinguish themselves as leaders in meeting consumers’ holistic health and wellness needs. For example, 67 percent of consumer respondents found health and wellness media within the healthcare journey (information on behavioral health centers within a confirmation email from a primary care physician, for example) to be helpful and interesting.”

Winning, retaining, or regaining customers has always been a challenge. But when people are more likely than ever to seek alternatives, it’s more important than ever to meet their expectations. Good healthcare is built on good execution. But this goes far beyond simply providing good care.

Want to learn more about how to retain customers? Check out our blog on the nuances of the customer journey and how to steer retention efforts around the customer.

Takeaway: Personalized, Connected, and Relevant Care

Today’s consumer wants healthcare to be more relevant and connected, but organizations often lack the skills to make this happen. In 2025 and beyond, it will pay to focus even more on digitization and connected care to provide a holistic healthcare experience.

Personalized care will only get more important as expectations increase. Consumers trust you to make use of their data—and want you to make use of it. Whether it’s genetic profiling or fine-tuned care using the wellness apps they use, good care and good messaging can go a long way in driving positive outcomes.

Trend 3: More AI in More Places—Especially Communications

As mentioned earlier, artificial intelligence isn’t leaving the spotlight. And in the healthcare communications and marketing space, AI has made and will continue to make a significant impact on health outcomes.

As highlighted in “The application of artificial intelligence in health communication development: A scoping review,” if behavioral change is the goal, AI is the vehicle to make it happen.

Why? Simple. Approaches known to work can be delivered at scale—and those deemed too challenging, labor intensive, or cost prohibitive can be tested or used.

“When coupled with innovative technologies like AI, incorporating [behavioral change] theories into health communication interventions becomes even more crucial, as it ensures that interventions are grounded in established principles while leveraging the capabilities of AI to personalise messages and optimise engagement.”

As highlighted in the report, AI can (and will) fit into a variety of areas in the healthcare communications space to deliver better, more relevant messaging faster and easier. From the integration of behavioral, demographic, and social factors to the implementation of storytelling, everything from strategy to delivery to message refinement gets better.

Takeaway: Think Bigger

AI isn’t just about making your job easier. It’s giving communications leaders the opportunity to do things that were implausible, unfeasible, or downright impossible.

Take Personalization Further

Take, for instance, personalization. There are already a lot of levers you could pull to get the right outcome (we should know). But there’s a difference between tailoring a message to a likely match and an exact one. Triggers can become a lot more granular, and messages can be a lot more diverse.

The biggest opportunities, though? Applying this personalization through storytelling and conversational interventions—two highly-effective yet previously inaccessible tactics to connect with a user, patient, or member.

Tell the Right Story

Storytelling is at the heart of the way humans operate—and can have a significant impact on behaviors and outcomes. But… Creating unique, relatable, and engaging stories is a high-effort proposition. A bit less-so with AI. It might not be easy, but it’s more feasible than ever.

Make Communication a Two-Way Street

And on the other hand, most of us understand the concept of conversational AI. Few understand the potential—especially when it comes to creating meaningful engagement in healthcare. People are willing to discuss things with a chatbot that they would never discuss with their peers, friends, doctor, or even their therapist.

A well-trained chatbot can round out the way you communicate with patients. And it can make your one-way communication more effective as well. That conversation might help you create or refine a persona or ad group. It might enter them into a new workflow. And it might help you get a better understanding of your audience—and how to connect with them.

Trend 4: Highly Trusted with Data—Expected to Protect

Did you know that nearly half of consumers believe that healthcare organizations are extremely trustworthy to protect their data? In fact, healthcare organizations are on par with financial institutions in consumer trust.

As a company that goes through the HITRUST r2 Certification process, we understand why it’s easy to trust a healthcare organization. But it is somewhat surprising that consumers feel the same way. After all, even with today’s short news cycles and information overload, a healthcare organization data breach seems to control the conversation for days or weeks.

Takeaway: Threats Never Stop

As mentioned above, consumers expect you to integrate more data into providing a holistic care and communications experience. Between this, continued consolidation, and the increasing use of AI tools throughout the organization, healthcare organizations will need to protect the rapidly expanding number of attack vectors.

Threats will never stop—and if you hope to deliver better, more personalized care through better technology, good governance will be more important than ever.

Takeaway: Prepare for Evolving Laws and Regulations

Cybercrime doesn’t sleep. Neither does government. According to Forrester, 2025 could be a banner year for regulatory and legislative change affecting healthcare organizations. On the Federal level, the Health Infrastructure Security and Accountability Act of 2024 aims to make formerly voluntary cybersecurity requirements mandatory. Though it may not be on the immediate horizon (certain requirements might pose challenging), it’s worth keeping on your radar.

On the state level, New York has pushed a somewhat aggressive cybersecurity law that bolsters security controls and mandates more stringent risk assessments and better incident response. And Forrester expects states like Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and Washington to have similar bills on the horizon.

Conclusion: Evolve, Protect, and Connect

From holistic care to personalized communication, healthcare is at a crossroads. With higher consumer expectations, expanding technological footprints, and more threats than ever, the healthcare organization of 2025 will need to rise to the occasion.

At Sepire, we are deeply integrated into the way healthcare organizations of all types connect with their consumers. As a leader in delivering secure, personalized, omnichannel communications for providers, insurers, wellness, telehealth providers, and more, we help you connect with consumers online and off.

If you’re looking to align personalized care with personalized communications, we’re here to help. Get to know more about who we’ve helped and how we do it—and drop us a line to get started.