Predict market trends and patient demand with market forecasting tools

Building a forward-thinking business strategy is largely a practice in minimizing uncertainty and risk. Unless your organization has a crystal ball that can predict the future with 100% accuracy (if so, lucky you!), market forecasting tools are your best bet for spotting potential opportunities and obstacles in the healthcare space, especially those related to market trends and patient demand.

With the right tools, you can get an idea of where the healthcare market is expected to expand, decline, or pivot, and then plan accordingly to best meet consumer needs.

Why use a market forecast to plan for the future?

Market forecasts allow companies to engage in strategic planning, financial planning, business development, and marketing with greater confidence. Knowing the upcoming market trends and patient demand can help an organization remain competitive and invest in the right services based on where the greatest need exists.

When used strategically, the data obtained by a market forecast offers four advantages for your company:

1. Stay ahead of the competition. By anticipating potential threats and making proactive adjustments, you’re able to reduce their risk and impact severity.
2. Inform decision-making. Use data to more effectively plan for future conditions and allocate resources.
3. Improve efficiency. Through predictive analysis, you can optimize critical functions like staffing, purchasing, expansion, and partnership management.
4. Differentiate markets. Identify and prioritize the right high-growth service lines to invest in.

How to leverage market forecasting tools

A market forecast built on predictive analytics provides you with critical information on market trends and patient demand. Even if you consider yourself an expert in your market, market forecasting can help you understand dynamic shifts in the market before they happen and make more impactful decisions around them.

A good market forecasting tool can predict the patient demand for a specific service using historical and projected claims, revenue, and demographic data. Declining or increasing usage trends in specific therapy areas can help you identify opportunities for growth or reallocation of resources.

Market forecasts can also identify emerging treatment areas that have high growth potential. These treatments may create a new subset of patients or present new ways to advance a service line. And if you operate in a highly localized market or work with a specific community, the right market forecasting tools will have granular data to help you identify their unique needs without relying on extrapolations from state or national trends.

Finally, a market forecast can help you understand growth in specific disease states, making it easier to determine where population health needs are shifting.

Applications of market trends and patient demand predictions

If you’re part of a provider organization or healthcare facility, taking a forward-looking approach to market trends is crucial for optimizing high-value service lines. Projected growth in the use of specific service lines is a great indicator of where to focus resources and maximize efficiency, allowing you to improve patient outcomes and save money.

Other organizations in the healthcare ecosystem can benefit from market forecasting as well. Medical device and biopharmaceutical companies can direct research, development, and clinical trials based on where patient demands are heading. And nearly any organization can leverage patient demand and market trend predictions to improve staffing, facility planning, and resource allocation.

Upcoming shifts in demand or demographics can also indicate areas where a partnership or investment may be wise.

When paired with the right data and predictive analytics, market forecasting tools can offer a glimpse into a probable future and help your company adequately serve the emerging needs of patients.

Learn more

Definitive Healthcare’s commercial intelligence empowers organizations across the healthcare landscape with data, analytics, and expertise to find and seize new opportunities. Now with Market Forecast, a predictive analytics solution, users can get ahead of impending changes and prepare for future success, Interested in optimizing your company’s strategy for future market conditions? Start a free trial of the Definitive Healthcare platform today.