Private hospital groups and clinics increasingly see direct to employer schemes as their biggest opportunity for growth over the next five years.
Research from the Independent Healthcare Providers Network’s (IHPN) showed a surge in expectation for this approach while prospects for self pay and private medical insurance (PMI) slipped slightly.
The body’s Industry Barometer looks at how senior leaders from more than 50 independent providers feel about the key issues relating to their business.
When asked about where they see the greatest opportunities for growth in private paid care over the next five years, 49% said private medical insurance, down from 53% in 2024.
Fewer respondents also saw self pay – 58% down from 62% and specialist insurance – 24% down from 19% – as opportunities for growth than in 2024.
Bucking the trend was company schemes with 53% of private hospital leaders now citing these as an opportunity for growth compared with just 31% in the previous year.
The IHPN defines company schemes as other non-PMI products companies offer such as healthcare trusts.
Positive sentiment
In describing the current market environment, respondents felt most positively about the domestic self-pay market, with 78% of those polled viewing it very positively or positively.
This was followed by insured market services at 63% and international self-pay at 31%, and then by NHS-funded services at 16%.
However, just 42% were positive about the market environment for the provision of PMI-funded services compared with 59% in the previous year.
And the data also highlighted the challenges the sector is facing around the NHS market and wider state of public finances, with almost nine in 10 providers (88%) citing the pressure to achieve savings as the principal driver of NHS commissioner behaviour over the next few years.
However, the survey also showed improvement in the extent to which independent providers feel they are part of their local NHS Integrated Care Systems – rising to 65% this year, compared with 51% in 2025.
AI and upskilling
Respondents also identified advances in artificial intelligence and other digital tools as the biggest opportunity around improving quality and patient safety – the first time this has featured in the survey.
With an increase in independent healthcare providers looking to upskill and adapt their existing workforce, the survey also indicated clear aspirations from the sector to increase clinical training, with 46% of independent healthcare leaders expecting this to increase in the next five years
David Hare, chief executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN), (pictured) said: “While there’s no doubt that independent providers – along with others in the health system and wider business community – face real challenges in light of the current economic and political climate, this year’s IHPN Industry Barometer shows overall a continued sense of optimism within the sector, particularly in the private market where the growing normalisation around paying for treatment is becoming ever more apparent.
“The survey also highlights the clear desire among independent providers to meet the needs of growing numbers of both NHS and private patients, including through taking proactive steps to improve the quality and safety of their care through the use of AI and other digital tools, as well as growing their own workforce – putting them in good stead in the years ahead.”
