5 of 10 questions policy researchers—and all healthcare stakeholders—should be asking this year and next

July 16, 2026 - 14:42

In healthcare policymaking, priorities are like flaming swords to a circus juggler. It is easy to take on one too many and overlook the overreach until a burn or laceration halts the show. This word picture is suggested between the lines of a peer-reviewed paper published this month, which argues that the industry is currently juggling too many urgent issues without pausing to ask the fundamental questions that guide long-term strategy.

The paper, written by a team of policy researchers, proposes that all healthcare stakeholders should focus on a core set of five questions out of a possible ten for the coming year and beyond. These questions are not about specific drugs or new technologies. Instead, they target the structural weaknesses in the system. One key area is how to measure value when the definition of "value" differs wildly between a hospital CEO, a patient with a chronic condition, and an insurance adjuster. Another question probes the sustainability of current payment models, asking whether fee-for-service can ever truly coexist with value-based care without creating perverse incentives.

The researchers also push for a hard look at data ownership. As artificial intelligence tools become more common, who actually controls the patient data feeding these algorithms? And what happens when that data is incomplete or biased? The final questions in the set address workforce burnout and health equity, not as separate initiatives, but as interconnected failures of the system. The authors warn that without asking these uncomfortable questions now, the industry will continue to react to crises rather than prevent them. The goal is not to find easy answers, but to force a pause in the juggling act before the flames catch up.