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Cliff Notes from HIMSS & ViVE '26
Two of the biggest conferences in healthcare IT just so happened to take place almost back to back over the past few weeks. Whether you couldn’t make either, only could make one, or somehow made both but still couldn’t possibly attend every session, here are the cliff notes for health system leaders.
Aligning AI to the Mission
Across conversations at the conferences, there were insightful discussions about the ultimate goal of AI. The goal isn’t adopting AI for its own sake, it’s using technology to advance healthcare’s core mission: keeping people healthy and out of the hospital.
Rather than chasing the latest tools, leaders are focusing on where AI can meaningfully reduce clinician burden, improve access to care, and help identify risks earlier so patients receive the right intervention at the right time.
“We don't need a business model for AI. Our business model is our business model, right? It's to keep people healthy and out of the hospital. And anything that we can do to help us and our practices achieve that mission more than pays for itself. The point isn't adoption of the technology. The point is getting to better outcomes.”
Rather than navigating a crowded market based on technical features alone, health system leaders must anchor their AI strategy in a clear mission and defined end goals. Robust governance is the bridge between experimentation and measurable clinical impact. This allows organizations to prioritize high-value use cases, establish success metrics, and clarify accountability across the different departments and leaders within their organization. By defining the "why" before the "what," leadership ensures that every AI investment serves a concrete operational purpose.
Service Line Personalization is the Next Phase of Patient Engagement
A growing number of health systems are shifting away from generic digital experiences toward personalized service line engagement. They are working toward delivering tailored content, navigation, and next steps based on a patient’s specific condition or care need.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all portal or website experience, patients increasingly encounter curated pathways for service lines like orthopedics, oncology, maternity, or cardiology, helping them more easily understand their options and move confidently to the next step in their care.
“Health systems need to be more flexible for the sake of our patients. That starts with understanding them through data, recognizing their intent in the moment, and guiding them to the next best step in their care journey.”
Health systems can begin by identifying their highest-volume or most strategic service lines and mapping the patient journey from the first digital touchpoint through ongoing care. From there, organizations can build tailored experiences that guide patients through those specific journeys, from pre-appointment prep to follow-up resources. Aligning marketing, digital teams, and clinical leaders around these service line experiences ensures patients receive clear, relevant guidance at every step while helping systems grow priority service areas.
Speed to Scale Over Speed to Market
Speed to market for a single feature is no longer a competitive advantage if it can’t be scaled across the entire health system. Leaders are increasingly recognizing that quick wins from isolated tools or pilots often create fragmented experiences and long-term technical debt if they aren’t built on the right foundation.
As a result, many organizations are shifting their focus toward more durable investments in infrastructure, interoperability, and data architecture that support growth over time. Rather than layering on additional point solutions, the priority is building platforms and systems that can support new capabilities as they emerge.
“When you’re planning a new hospital, the process can start five to seven years before the building even opens, which makes anticipating technology needs incredibly challenging. You’re designing a space years before many of the systems will even exist. That’s why organizations are focusing less on betting on specific technologies and more on building the right infrastructure and flexibility from the start. Begin with your infrastructure and decide how much capacity you want to leave available on day one.”
Before launching new digital initiatives, leaders should evaluate whether their underlying infrastructure can support enterprise-wide adoption. Prioritizing platforms, integration strategies, and governance models that enable new capabilities to scale across service lines can prevent fragmentation later. By focusing on interoperability and shared foundations now, health systems position themselves to adopt future innovations faster and deploy them consistently across the organization.
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