Hospitals in 2026: Predictions for patient care, technology, and more

As 2026 begins, hospitals and healthcare providers face a rapidly changing landscape.

We gathered insights from more than two dozen healthcare leaders across the industry. They offer their predictions about the challenges and opportunities in the year ahead.

The projections cover changing federal regulations, the continued growth of AI and other technologies and cybersecurity threats. They point to the need to adapt new technologies and care models but also to closely examine their performance, how they mesh with workflows, and assess returns on investment.

While the forecasts cover different aspects of the world of health care, many share one similar sentiment. Healthcare executives are going to need to think differently in the coming year.

Erik Swanson, managing director of Kaufman Hall

“I think hospitals are really going to evaluate their portfolio of services and where they're ultimately delivering care. I think there's a lot of really interesting models in place whereby it is mutually beneficial, from an affordability perspective, from a quality perspective, from the hospital financial perspective, in really strategic placement of that care and where folks move into. I'm excited about that, as well as that being enabled by some of these advanced technologies. So I think all of those are positive signs. What am I worried about? I think some of these foundational pressures are going to continue to challenge hospitals and systems, and I'm still very worried about the smaller, more rural hospitals.”

Rom Eizenberg, Chief Growth Officer, Kontakt.io,

"Health systems’ boardroom conversation will refocus attention on operating excellence as a key driver for improvement across all operating domains. CIOs will lean in to new technologies like AI to drive better coordination between demand and supply signals for care recourse along the patient’s journey, playing a central role in consolidating business needs."

Kevin Healy, CEO of ReferWell

“With the start of the CMS TEAM mandate performance year in January, hospital leaders must recognize that post-op care coordination for Medicare patients has become mission critical to securing reimbursement. With 714 hospitals required to participate and five high-risk surgical episode types subject to bundled reimbursement, the mandate now places financial stakes on post-discharge follow-up care. For hospital executives, care transition teams, and provider network leaders, this shift represents an opportunity: Assuring seamless post-surgical transitions and completing provider referrals can reduce readmissions and complications, protecting margins while improving patient outcomes. Health systems that proactively invest in referral management, real-time scheduling, and care navigation now will be the ones that thrive under TEAM’s measurement lens.”

Dave Wessinger, CEO of PointClickCare

“As healthcare enters 2026, success will depend on turning information into intelligence that drives real-time action. The most forward-looking organizations will focus on connecting clinical, financial, and operational data to create a complete picture of each patient. When intelligence is embedded into workflows and accessible at the point of care, clinicians can anticipate needs, improve outcomes, and deliver care that is both efficient and deeply human.”

Baxter Lee, president of Clearwater Security

“In 2026, the defining challenge for healthcare leaders won’t be a single breach or regulation, it will be sustaining operational resilience in a threat landscape that now moves faster than traditional decision cycles. The industry is entering a new era where cyber incidents have direct financial and clinical consequences: data-extortion attacks are increasing, third-party compromises can ripple across entire regions, and OCR is expected to finalize the updated HIPAA Security Rule, making continuous, evidence-backed risk analysis a baseline requirement. For executive teams, this will shift cybersecurity from an IT expense to a business continuity imperative. High-impact risks (like vendor ecosystem failures, cloud service disruptions, and AI-powered social engineering) will require organizations to strengthen governance, tighten vendor oversight, and invest in 24/7 monitoring and identity controls. In 2026, resilience becomes a competitive advantage.”

David Bates, co-founder and CEO of Linus Health

“In 2026 and beyond, I expect more health system leaders to establish dedicated brain health service lines, much like they once did for oncology and cardiology, as part of a broader move toward proactive, whole-person care. These programs will unify screening, lifestyle intervention, and specialist referral pathways under one coordinated framework, supported by data-driven insight into early cognitive risk. By institutionalizing brain health in this way, health systems will empower primary care to take the lead and dramatically accelerate diagnosis and treatment, reducing care delays for patients who need help. Because when it comes to preventing cognitive decline, time is brain.”

George Boghos, CEO, Imagine Pediatrics

"Pediatric value-based care innovations prove that when we design tech-enabled care models around integration, access, and personalization, we improve outcomes, patient and provider experience, and total cost of care. By integrating medical, behavioral, and social care around children with special health care needs and extending that support through virtual and in-home care, we’re seeing fewer hospitalizations, higher satisfaction, and more safe days at home and less preventable time in the hospital. The future of innovation lies in scaling these models so every child and family can feel supported by a system that works for them."

Jonathan Shoemaker, CEO of ABOUT

"In 2026, health system leaders will prioritize visibility over volume when it comes to technology. Real-time insight into patient status, staffing, and capacity will become the most important driver of operational performance. When leaders can see what’s happening across their system as it happens, they can make faster, smarter decisions that improve care, ease burnout, and strengthen margins."

Jose Vazquez, founder and President of HURC

“Centralizing utilization review will become a significant revenue cycle priority in the years ahead, putting providers back in the driver's seat by arming them with the tools to strengthen net revenue and take back control of reimbursement. By 2026, we'll see health systems take action, as there are real opportunities to redesign a model that works better for providers and delivers measurable gains to the bottom line.”

Colby Takeda, co-founder and CEO of Pear Suite

“Community health workers are moving from the margins to the center of care delivery. As states realign Medicaid coverage through redetermination, work requirements, and preventive care reimbursement, CHWs will become the backbone of how health plans scale to engage, support, and understand their most vulnerable members. Their ability to combine lived experience with culturally responsive care positions them to bridge clinical gaps, uncover unmet social needs, and drive measurable improvements in outcomes. For 2026, I believe that CHWs will evolve into a fully recognized, reimbursable provider class—one that reshapes population health outcomes and brings equity, trust, and community partnership to the forefront of healthcare. CHWs won't just complement the healthcare system; they'll help redefine it.”

Oren Nissim, CEO and cofounder of Brook

"This next year, we will see payers and providers double down on scalable, outcomes-focused remote care that reduces total cost of care while improving clinical results for diverse patient needs. Expect more investment in intelligent care teams that use adaptive AI and automation to surface high-impact opportunities and rely on clinicians and health coaches to act on them. Health systems that treat continuous remote care as part of their core infrastructure, rather than a new experiment, will be best positioned to succeed in 2026 and beyond."

Bill Kerr, CEO and co-founder, Avalon Healthcare Solutions

“The future of healthcare innovation will depend on how well we bring clinical precision and operational insight together. It’s not just about chasing the next diagnostic or digital tool—it’s about creating systems that turn data into better decisions for patients and for the organizations that serve them. Efficiency and equity should move forward together; that’s what real healthcare leadership looks like.”

Sean Cassidy, CEO and co-Founder, Lucem Health

"In 2026, expect improved case-mix index, better capacity utilization, and sustainable growth for value-based models. Technology will enable health systems to accelerate the transition from reactive referrals to proactive specialty pipeline management, capturing appropriate patients earlier, reducing costly late-stage interventions, and building predictable volumes that support both quality and financial performance objectives."

Jacopo Leonardi, CEO, 4D Path

“While cancer survival rates have improved over recent decades, there is still much work to do. At the center of this work remains a critical unmet need around treatment prediction. We have already begun to see the convergence of approaches such as multi-omics, circulating tumor DNA, and digital pathology, with AI and large language models. These advances in molecular approaches, coupled with deep learning and artificial intelligence, are beginning to create a more comprehensive view of the tumor state. By continuing to integrate these approaches, we can enable earlier detection, more precise diagnosis, individualized treatment prediction, and effective post-treatment surveillance in the year ahead -- and beyond.”

Joel Diamond, MD, chief medical officer, Aranscia

“Customized treatment plans will increasingly rely on precision medicine insights as one size fits all recommendations will not be tolerated by AI-savvy consumers. As patients demand further care through portals, clinicians will become more dependent on generative AI to both answer questions and explain results regarding bespoke treatment. Additionally, patient-derived data by way of smart devices will become increasingly prominent in personalized medicine insights.”

Michael Dalton, CEO and founder, Ovatient

"I expect 2026 to be the year virtual care 'gets its groove back.' Three structural forces are converging to make telehealth indispensable: funding from the administration's Rural Health Transformation program, tightening Medicaid coverage, and steep employer health-benefit cost increases. These pressures will ensure that virtual care models that are integrated - both with an EMR and within operational workflows - and longitudinal will move from being a mere convenience into a financial and operational necessity for health systems."

Angel Mena, MD, chief medical officer, symplr

“In 2026, we’ll be focused on raising the next generation of digitally enabled physicians, clinicians who are not only skilled in the art of medicine but fully equipped to operate in an increasingly digital healthcare ecosystem. This past year’s boom in AI tools has shown tremendous promise in reducing administrative burden at a time when clinicians are already spending nearly 88 minutes per day on administrative tasks. As these technologies continue to expand, proper training and digital fluency will become even more essential. AI must be woven into how we train, coach, and support clinicians.”

Brent Dover, CEO at Carta Healthcare

"Innovation in healthcare is increasingly focused on tools that ease the burden on clinicians while improving outcomes. As an example, ambient listening technologies are cutting documentation time and freeing providers to spend more energy with patients, while smarter data integration and workflow automation are driving efficiency across systems. The innovations gaining the most traction are those that simplify processes, enhance accuracy, and prove their value quickly."

Jason Bobay, CEO, RF Health

“Expensive and dangerous hospital-acquired conditions cost billions annually and lead to longer stays, increased complications, and readmissions. Driven by the overwhelming costs associated with preventable hospital-acquired conditions and emerging regulatory requirements, hospital administrators will move beyond existing, failing protocols and commit to significant investment in proven, data-driven med tech solutions. In 2026, hospitals will get serious about these evidence-based med tech solutions, leading to better outcomes and improved patient care.”

Kristine Shepherd, clinical nurse consultant, Omnicell

“In 2026, we’ll see the industry pivot from a ‘technology-first’ mindset to a workflow-first one, and that shift will change how frontline care teams experience medication management. For years, new tools have been added with the hope they’d solve workflow challenges, but often they introduced new steps or workarounds instead. The future of medication management will flip that script. We’re moving toward connected, intelligent systems that take routine tasks off nurses’ plates and reduce the manual inventory burden on pharmacy teams, while improving safety and visibility. When technology is designed to fit the way care is delivered, care teams get time back, processes become more predictable, and patients benefit. I think in 2026, we will start to see technology adapting to nurses’ demands instead of the other way around.”

Erik Littlejohn, CEO, CloudWave

“The healthcare IT industry will begin to witness a shift in 2026, from traditional uptime metrics to cyber resilience, moving from “how often are we up?” to “how quickly can we recover?” New regulatory proposals, such as the HIPAA 72-hour rule, solidify this. If adopted, the rule would require healthcare organizations to restore critical data such as EHR systems within 72 hours of a cyberattack or system failure. I predict that organizations will shift their focus from compliance to demonstrable resilience, driving investments in cybersecurity and IT infrastructure. Healthcare organizations will need to assess their current cybersecurity posture and develop comprehensive risk and recovery plans to prepare for and respond to emerging threats.”

Dr. Don Rucker, chief strategy officer, 1upHealth

“2026 will likely see the rethinking of how we handle claims. American healthcare does not provide value for dollar and much of that comes from the disconnect between what is charged and what is offered. Today, the claims conversation includes almost no clinical data on the appropriateness of the care billed for the patient. The future and the FHIR data standard means we will see much more clinical data in the payment system and likely less reliance on isolated CPT4 and ICD10 codes in the search for value. Electronic prior authorization is providing the first glimpse into the richer interactions between clinical data and the claims process.”

Jeanne Cohen, CEO and founder, Motive Medical Intelligence

“In 2026, the next wave of payer–provider innovation will be driven by a shared focus on the most fundamental element of healthcare performance — the physician decision. For years, payers and providers have aligned around contracts and population metrics, but real collaboration begins when both sides can see and trust the same transparent, evidence-based data on physician performance. By grounding accountability in credible clinical standards, we move from negotiation to partnership — uniting payers and providers around measurable quality and value. This new visibility into decision-making will strengthen value-based care, creating a system where alignment, trust, and better outcomes naturally follow.”

AJ Patel, CEO of TeleMed2U

“Over the next 12 months, we will see a shift in payor sentiment when it comes to specialty telemedicine adoption. Once considered a niche offering, virtual care that can break down accessibility barriers is now being recognized for its valuable contributions to improving care and lower costs. The next step is proving it with data demonstrating its ability to generate better outcomes, reduce hospital visits, and improve member experience. In 2026 we should expect that elevating care connections will continue to be a critical selling point with health plans. Proactive care delivered through telemedicine will help prevent serious complications in chronic conditions like heart failure, COPD, and diabetes keeping patients healthier longitudinally.”

Steve Roberts, CEO, Vyne

"In 2026, dental providers will begin to understand the real costs of limited interoperability in the dental industry. When claims are delayed due to missing data or patients experience insurance payment ambiguity, practices lose revenue and patient trust declines. Helping providers understand the financial and operational consequences of closed systems is essential to driving change."

Ryne Natzke, chief revenue officer, TrustCommerce

“Innovation is a constant cycle between discussing and planning for it, with actually putting a plan in place and executing on it. New technology is becoming more widely available to make payments a smarter and more automated part of the care journey, which is empowering patients because they know what they owe sooner and have payment methods that fit naturally into how they already interact with their providers and the world around them. As the consumer financial experience continues to modernize generally, success will come from bringing in these innovations to the patient payment experience with governance to ensure that new solutions are serving patients and providers with the appropriate consideration for compliance and security.”

Mindy Fortson, chief operating officer at Experian Health

“Operational efficiency isn’t just a goal for 2026, it’s a requirement for survival. Providers who leverage technology to simplify operations, streamline administrative burdens, optimize workflows, and improve patient access will drive patient-centered outcomes. Providers need to focus on giving staff the technology, support, and insights they need to provide a better patient experience. In the new year, regulatory pressures, like the sweeping provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will intensify for providers. With an influx of self-pay patients expected, providers must prepare for delays or rejections of reimbursements and other operational headaches that impact the overall patient experience. To overcome these challenges, providers must pivot from reactive problem-solving to proactive workflow optimizations with advanced technology.”

Bruno Lempernesse, CEO, MDClone

"Health systems increasingly recognize that a single, governed, and privacy-preserving data source of truth is now essential for clinical, operational, financial, and research leaders to act with confidence in real time. As AI becomes part of routine decision-making, organizations grounded in trustworthy, well-governed data are best positioned to drive consistent action with measurable impact across the enterprise. A clear data-driven strategy has become a core leadership capability, defining the systems that advance in performance, quality, and long-term value.”