America's Benefit Specialist December 2023

NOTEWORTHY

Survey participants within the healthcare industry be lieve the two most important issues their businesses need to address to succeed are: (39%) attracting, hiring qualified personnel, and retention and (32%) growing their busi ness through marketing. Healthcare leaders also expect to increase efficiencies through the automation of tasks (28%), leveraging artificial intelligence to analyze data and support decision making (23%), and adding new goods or services with higher profit margins (19%). The report shows 65% of respondents expect prices for their products and services to increase over the next 12 months, and 70% of healthcare leaders have raised the prices on their products and services in the last 12 months. Other notable insights from the research: • Seventy-eight percent are planning to invest in financial tools to protect their payments systems.

• Sixty-five percent of survey participants expect to make significant changes to their lines of products and services. • Similar to the majority of survey participants, 65% plan to find ways to digitize new areas of the business to improve efficiency. • Given that healthcare leaders expect economic conditions to improve in the next 12 months, they appear more com fortable taking on debt, with 53% noting they will likely take on debt to invest in expanding their business. • Fifty-one percent are considering an increase in their real estate footprint. On behalf of Umpqua Bank, DHM Research conducted an online survey of 1,250 owners, executives and financial deci sion-makers of American small and middle-market compa nies from July 27 to August 8.

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