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Responses from almost 3000 younger healthcare professionals

The current generation of younger professionals will soon make up the majority of our local healthcare workforce in South Africa. They have the responsibility – and the privilege – of delivering the changes that are needed to ensure healthcare systems are fit for purpose. Value-based care is the ultimate aspiration of this, delivered through the Quadruple Aim of better health outcomes, improved patient and staff experience, and lower cost of care.
 

The challenge to transform healthcare lies on this group’s shoulders, but too often their views are not widely understood. The Future Health Index 2020 for South Africa explores this generation's expectations around technology, training and job satisfaction, and the reality of their experience as healthcare professionals.

The current generation of younger professionals will soon make up the majority of our local healthcare workforce in South Africa. They have the responsibility – and the privilege – of delivering the changes that are needed to ensure healthcare systems are fit for purpose. Value-based care is the ultimate aspiration of this, delivered through the Quadruple Aim of better health outcomes, improved patient and staff experience, and lower cost of care.

The challenge to transform healthcare lies on this group’s shoulders, but too often their views are not widely understood. The Future Health Index 2020 for South Africa explores this generation's expectations around technology, training and job satisfaction, and the reality of their experience as healthcare professionals.

Theme 1 label

Exploring the gaps in healthcare education and training

Younger healthcare professionals see four key gaps in their career relating to: skills, knowledge, data and expectations.

Skills

Many feel their medical education did not prepare them for certain aspects of their career

Skills image

44%

Say their medical education has not prepared them at all for business administration tasks

Knowledge

How much younger healthcare professionals knew about value-based care

Knowledge image

78%

Only knew it by name/a little/nothing at all

Some younger healthcare professionals say they are overwhelmed by digital patient data.  Many say the reality of their career does not live up to their hopes and expectations.

Data

Data graph green

35%

Don’t know how to use digital patient data to inform patient care

Data graph yellow

35%

Are overwhelmed by the amount of digital patient data

Expectations

Expectations image

41%

Disagree or neither agree nor disagree that the reality of their career lives up to their hopes and expectations

This generation says the biggest change needed to leverage healthcare data is fixing problems that impair the smooth running of digital health technologies such as interoperability, data accuracy and security.

cog l

58%

Improved interoperability between platforms

Graph image

57%

Improved accuracy of data

Lock image

54%

Improved data security

Theme 3 label

Creating the ideal healthcare working environment

Smarter and more flexible working environments are key to attracting talent.

Other than salary, factors around collaboration, autonomy and technology are important when choosing a hospital or practice in which to work.

Workplace culture

89%

Workplace culture

Latest equipment and technologies

88%

Latest equipment / technologies

Reputation image

79%

Reputation

Work/life balance

75%

Work/life balance

Percentages are NETS.
Base (unweighted): Total younger healthcare professionals excluding those who selected 'salary - important to you' (n=663)

Addressing the gap


This data gives a clear mandate to healthcare leaders to respond to the concerns of this younger generation of healthcare professionals. It highlights
three core areas to address urgently:

Education and training

Education and training

  • Administrative and business management
  • Use and interpretation of technology and data
  • Principles of value-based care.

Technology image

Technology

  • Investment in data sharing technologies
  • Harnessed to improve work-life balance and outcomes
  • Greater product interoperability.

Culture image

Culture

  • Opinion acknowledgement
  • Involvement in business operations 
  • Flexible working

The Future Health Index is commissioned by Philips.


The 2020 study comprises original research via a survey of 2,867 healthcare professionals under the age of 40 years old across 15 countries: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa and the United States of America.

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