Is the long-awaited seismic shift in health care finally here? A collision of forces—a global pandemic of historic proportions; exponential advances in medical science; an explosion of digital technologies, data access, and analytics; informed and empowered consumers; and a movement from disease care to prevention and well-being—proving to be the catalyst for the clinical, financial, and operational transformation that health care has long promised to the world.

2022 marks the second full year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it continues to dominate health systems’ attention and resources: • Global COVID-19 cases have climbed above 270.9 million as of December 14, 2021, and the death toll has exceeded 5.31 million.1 Studies have shown that certain racial and ethnic minority groups and underserved and marginalized populations have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, shining a spotlight on the recalcitrant issues around health equity and health outcomes.2 • Low vaccination rates have hampered many countries’ ability to contain the pandemic.3 More than half the world’s population has yet to receive a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a figure that drops to less than 5% in low-income countries.4 Even in developed economies, access issues such as hesitancy, scheduling, transportation and convenient hours are preventing many from receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.5 • Recognizing the interconnectedness of our global populations, The World Health Organization (WHO) and other aid groups have appealed to leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies to fund a $23.4 billion plan to bring COVID-19 vaccines, tests, and drugs to poorer countries in the next 12 months.6 • Health care workers are experiencing incredible emotional, physical, and professional stress from responding to COVID-19.

In the United States, for example, 55% of frontline health care workers report burnout, with the highest rate (69%) among the youngest staff. Health care organizations are fighting to support their employees and retain talent, especially in clinical populations, leading to renewed need to focus on the workforce experience.

• The pandemic has also decreased access to and consumer demand for non-COVID-19-related medical care. Patients are postponing or forgoing a wide variety of services, including emergency treatment of acute conditions, routine check-ups, and recommended cancer screenings. The long-term health effects from the failure to intervene early, lack of chronic disease management, and undiagnosed conditions will be significant.7 Despite COVID-19’s many devastating impacts, it does present the health care sector with a powerful opportunity to accelerate innovation and reinvent itself. As we have been envisioning the Future of Health™ and what the ecosystem may look like in 2040, we had anticipated many changes that are occurring today. What we hadn’t predicted, was that the global pandemic would be the catalyst to kick start and accelerate those changes so quickly.8