Accounting and Consultancy firm Deloitte US’ industry outlook survey of health care operators and investors reveals what 71 c-suite executives of health systems and insurance with $500m+ revenue think 2023 will hold.

Among all those surveyed, 52% had a positive or cautiously positive outlook for 2023. However, insurers and operators were split: 66% of insurers felt positive, whilst only 42% of operators did.

Perhaps operators’ less sunny outlook was explained by the key trends which those surveyed think will have a big impact on organisational strategy. 68% of executives said workforce would have a big impact, while 61% fretted over inflation – factors significantly more important in workforce and energy-intensive businesses like hospitals.

So what will executives do to prepare for these trends? There was a lot of agreement here with over 80% of executives saying they would invest in workforce, improve customer experience, enhance cybersecurity and improve performance.