Well, if weather forecasters can kind of get it right (especially with all this new doppler radar stuff...), then maybe healthcare forecasters can kind of predict the future.(?) Some of the healthcare gurus are even willing to predict five years out...now that's bold! Here's insight from a survey of over 100 healthcare executives and industry advisers (source: HealthLeaders  March 2008 edition):

Healthcare delivery will continue it's dramatic shift to nonhospital treatment. Hospital costs will be driven up by new regulations or compliance requirements that increase the demand for healthcare workers. The cost of supplies and pharmaceutical products will spiral upward because of continued development and marketing of preference items and new technologies. Medicare and Medicaid expenditures will fall in response to federal budget pressures. An increasing number of states will mandate coverage for the uninsured. Health plans will see their bargaining power increase.

Great, I feel better now (NOT). Oh well, we in healthcare know it's a dynamic industry, and I hope that all of us will be encouraged to overcome any gloom or doom and focus on things that matter-meet and exceed healthcare delivery expectations of our community, offer needed services, be cost conscious, think of our customers' perspective, and love what we're doing....it's a high calling, the storms will come, but "weathering" them will give us hope, endurance, and character.