ViVE 2026 Takeaways: AI, hope, anxiety and tackling real problems

Los Angeles - Many of the thousands attending the ViVE digital health conference appeared to be as sunny as the sublime southern California weather.

For those who escaped the snowstorm that buried much of the Northeast, the warm temperatures and cool technology proved to be appealing.

But it wasn’t exactly a party. In interviews and casual conversations, some said they are angry and anxious about federal cuts in healthcare programs and growing pressures on their bottom line.

Here’s a roundup of some of the takeaways from the fifth ViVE conference.

AI and rapid changes

AI was undoubtedly the star of the show, and plenty of healthcare leaders are enthusiastic about everything from streamlining business functions to using tools to get better insights on patients.

Even experts in the field say it’s difficult to predict how much change AI is going to bring to healthcare in a few years.

Saad Chaudhry, the chief digital and information officer at SSM Health, offered a memorable comparison to place the rapid changes of AI in perspective during a panel discussion.

“Let's just imagine that, instead of coming out every year, an iPhone was coming out every month, every week, heck, every day. Would you be able to keep up with what features were coming out? Would you even know the variations of iPhone that are out today? … That's how fast AI is progressing,” he said.

Matthew Kull, chief Information and digital officer at Inova Health System, says he’s very bullish on AI. Speaking at that same panel, Kull also says it’s difficult to forecast how AI will transform different aspects of hospitals and health systems.

“I was in a focus group yesterday, and I saw a pitch deck talking about using AI to improve your call center, which I think is a very good effort today,” Kull said. “But it showed savings on a three- to five-year horizon. Do we all think call centers are going to exist in five years?”

“I think we are underestimating how fast this is coming and what it's going to do to the way we work,” Kull said.

AI and nursing

Health systems are getting countless pitches to adopt new AI products. Some of those marketing approaches are missing the mark. Several health leaders recounted tech companies announcing new solutions that aren’t tied to real problems they are facing.

Nurses detest pitches of products as “AI nurses.” Nursing leaders slammed such marketing, saying it disrespects nursing and shows a fundamental lack of understanding of their jobs.

Bonnie Clipper, founder of the Virtual Nursing Academy, captured much of the sentiment when she said, “If one more of you messages me on LinkedIn to look at your ‘AI nurse,’ I'm going to have to punch you.”

Nursing leaders say they are eager to use AI tools to do their jobs better and get more time with patients, but they stress that tech companies need to be consulting nurses as they design their products, not after the fact.

Clipper cited one tech leader who said that he got a good understanding of nursing issues and how to solve them by consulting ChatGPT.

Ambient documentation

Doctors and hospital executives continue to give high marks to AI-powered documentation tools that record and summarize patient encounters.

Robbie Freeman, the chief digital transformation officer of Mount Sinai, told Chief Healthcare Executive® that the system is planning to have more than 2,000 clinicians using the AI-powered technology by the middle of the year.

“We're starting to get some really good, promising early indicators,” Freeman says. He says it can support clinicians and reduce stress.

Healthcare leaders stressed that ambient documentation can provide details in conversations that doctors may have missed. They also pointed out that they help capture some of the work that doctors and nurses are doing that may have been missed, creating untapped opportunities for reimbursements.

Nursing leaders highlighted ambient documentation capturing other details of the care they provide.

One leader recounted a patient asking a nurse for a prayer before surgery, and the nurse praying with the patient. Hospitals can get more details on the empathy and compassion nurses provide.

Targeting the right problems

Another persistent theme emerged in a number of discussions about AI at ViVE. Several leaders who spoke with me and appeared in panel discussions say they would like to see AI companies targeting some of the deeper problems in healthcare.

Dr. Nolan Chang, the executive vice president of strategy, corporate development and finance, The Permanente Federation, told Chief Healthcare Executive® that he wants to see AI tackling the “foundational” problems in the healthcare industry.

“I think it's really easy to just say, I'm going to use the tool to solve my existing problems and try to make my life easier,” Chang says. “But if we're looking at the patients as a whole, what's really driving the utilization, I think there's an opportunity to use technology to augment what we're able to do and drive better outcomes.”

Mounting financial pressures

Even with the buzz over AI and other new technologies on display at ViVE, several healthcare leaders acknowledged their anxiety about the financial stresses on hospitals and health systems.

Substantial cuts in Medicaid are expected over the next several years, with millions of Americans expected to lose coverage and health systems seeing less funding. The expiration of the tax credits supporting the Affordable Care Act looks to make coverage out of reach of many of those who purchased insurance on the exchanges.

Dr. Reshma Gupta, chief of population health at the University of California, told Chief Healthcare Executive® that she’s deeply concerned about the impact of Medicaid cuts on patients, and hospitals and health systems trying to care for them.

Emergency rooms are going to be packed with uninsured patients seeking refuge in the one place that they’ll be able to get treatment. And that affects all patients coming to get care, since they’ll wait longer to be seen.

“We have enormous wait times already,” Gupta says.

John Couris, president and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, told Chief Healthcare Executive® that he’s optimistic despite the challenges ahead, but he says the changes will require new approaches.

“I believe that every obstacle that presents itself, there's a solution through that obstacle. And so obstacles bring opportunities,” he says.

The vibes

Overall, the vibes at ViVE were different than in past years. I’ve attended ViVE twice previously. Last year’s event came just about a month after President Trump’s return to the Oval Office, and the administration hadn’t ushered in too many policies at that point.

There was plenty of optimism among those in attendance, but certainly undercurrents of unease and frustration about a future with less funding from the federal government.

In interviews at ViVE and in the sessions I attended, I was struck by a genuine determination to tackle big problems, including affordability and the influx of more aging patients as the last of the Baby Boomers get ready to retire.

Most people seem to have a clear assessment of the problems, and even some of the remedies. The key is actually moving forward.

Coming Monday: Chief Healthcare Executive® presents an interview with Ann Jordan, the president and CEO of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. In a conversation, she talks about the big challenges facing hospitals and health systems.