Giving Compass' Take:

• Health system executives share their predictions for what's on the horizon for healthcare in 2019. 

• Which of these predictions is likely to come to fruition? Which healthcare partnerships are making significant gains?

• Read about how precision-based wellness might become a new trend for healthcare in 2019. 

From drug pricing battles to megamergers and new players disrupting the industry, 2018 has been a wild ride for healthcare. What's next in healthcare for 2019?  FierceHealthcare checked in with some health system executives from across the country to look into their crystal balls about what they see coming.

Here's what they had to say:

Marschall S. Runge, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Michigan Medicine: One change he predicts for the industry in 2019: There will be significant decreases in drug pricing, and pharmaceutical companies will be among the first to participate. Beyond that, it will be a political cage fight. So many intermediaries exist between pharmaceutical companies and a patient that influence the ability to cut drug prices. If logic were to prevail, reduction in price by pharmaceutical companies would result in lower expenditures by patients.

Bernard Tyson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente: His prediction for the industry in 2019: I expect healthcare organizations will move beyond the traditional boundaries of healthcare to consider everything that might affect the health of Americans to deliver better health outcomes.

Jaewon Ryu, M.D., interim president and CEO of Geisinger Health System: 
One change he predicts for the industry: I think we’ll see a stronger focus across the industry on managing the total health of populations. At Geisinger, we’re calling this the year of “democratizing health,” because as an industry, we are focused on how we can deliver greater value, in particular for growing segments like Medicare and Medicaid, but really across all segments.

Lawrence Moss, M.D., CEO of Nemours Children's Health System: Nemours believes that 2019 will bring in an era of enhanced cooperation and partnership between institutions providing children’s healthcare and the United States government, particularly around Medicaid.

Read the full article about predictions about healthcare in 2019 by Tina Reed and Paige Minemyer at Healthcare News