Outside the Box: 5 health-care sector prescriptions for 2015

A tidal wave of innovation is going to affect health care. Increased cost responsibility means were becoming financially invested in seeking out better, lower-cost care. The results are going to be profound in 2015 and beyond.

Here are five predictions for how your health-care involvement will change:

1. You wont visit a doctors office for a diagnosis:. Retail clinics and urgent care centers are often more convenient. Over-the-counter home kits are moving beyond pregnancy tests and glucose monitoring, able to diagnose conditions including Hepatitis C, HIV, and even prostate cancer. And apps and wearable technology scans for everything from fever to Parkinsons disease.

Berg co-founder and president Niven Narain joins Simon Constable on digits and discusses how artificial intelligence can play a role in both the business world and the health-care sector. Photo: iStock/ymgerman.

This trend means seeing the doctor less often, for more serious problems. And wearable technology provides hard data that patients can discuss with their doctors, allowing for more accurate diagnosis and care.

By 2020, simple diagnostic tools and tests will become the norm. There is a huge demand for such self-diagnostic procedures, which could reduce the cost and resources it takes to provide routine care.

2. Provider price wars: More options for medical care and diagnosis, coupled with increased transparency, will rev the engine of the health care marketplace. Quality information on hospitals and doctors has been in the public domain through websites. Now, companies and health plans are starting to pair quality data with cost, allowing consumers to shop for care. This trio of competition, cost and choice will fuel price wars among health care providers.

Besides retail-store clinics such as those found at CVS Health Corp. CVS, -1.09% and Walgreen Co. WGN, +2.56% , hospitals and medical centers will also compete on price. For example, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma guarantees the price for procedures, inclusive of doctor fees, initial consults and uncomplicated follow-up care. As a result, the business attracts patients from across the country. The cost is cheaper than local hospitals, and employers are willing to foot the bill flights, travel and lodging included.

Expect to see more of this. Coupons, incentives and other retail-model discounts will become part of the health-care shopping experience for patients. The beneficiaries will be patients and their pocketbooks. Better care at lower cost courtesy of the free market.

By 2020, patients will access these specialized centers of excellence. Hospitals will invest in specific diseases and disorders, while general surgeries and procedures will be outsourced to more efficient and price-competitive surgery centers.