As we wrap up another year and get ready for 2026 to begin, it is once again time for everyone’s favorite annual tradition of Health IT Predictions! We reached out to our incredible Healthcare IT Today Community to get their insights on what will happen in the coming year, and boy, did they deliver. We, in fact, got so many responses to our prompt this year that we have had to narrow them down to just the best and most interesting. Check out the community’s predictions down below and be sure to follow along as we share more 2026 Health IT Predictions!
Check out our community’s Health Equity predictions:
Adiel Am-Shalom, Co-Founder and CEO at AISAP
AI is changing healthcare access. The reality is simple: where you live shouldn’t determine your lifespan. The real power of AI is its ability to train on data from the world’s leading medical centers and then deliver that same, world-class standard of care anywhere on the planet. We’ve proven that you can deliver specialist-level cardiac care directly to the bedside, even when a specialist is a thousand miles away. In 2026 and beyond, AI-driven diagnostics will continue to break down the walls of healthcare deserts and fill critical expertise gaps. AI in the hands of trained clinicians is the ultimate tool to finally level the health equity playing field.
Jordan Bazinsky, CEO at Intelerad
Interoperability’s true potential will be capable of overcoming the geographic and administrative barriers that have historically fragmented patient care. Providers are struggling with longstanding challenges, budget limitations, workflow inefficiencies, and uneven resource distribution, compounded by some new ones, like restrictive certificate-of-need laws that force patients across state lines for imaging.
Together, these pressures will accelerate the shift toward cloud-first strategies designed to keep care local. New interoperability mandates and the need to sustain access amid policy uncertainty will make 2026 the year when scalable, connected imaging networks go from possible to essential.
The seamless sharing of images across diverse jurisdictions and care settings will result in fewer repeat scans, lower operating costs, and faster diagnostic turnaround times. Best of all, more specialized diagnostic capabilities in rural and underserved communities prevent a patient’s location from determining care quality, moving the industry closer to true health equity.
Jeff Brandes, CEO at Azara Healthcare
Health equity is set to take a major hit in 2026. If ACA premium tax credits expire and the Big Beautiful Bill’s Medicaid cuts continue, millions of people will lose coverage, forcing them to turn to already stretched-thin safety-net providers. Low-income families, communities of color, rural residents, and those already facing barriers to care will feel the impact most. Concurrently, the Rural Health Transformation Program will further stretch provider resources as it attempts to bring more patient-centric care models to a historically under-resourced healthcare delivery system.
To meet these demands, safety-net providers will need to turn to technology to maintain stability and continue caring for communities that need it most. In short, they’ll need solutions that eliminate duplicative data, streamline reporting, and provide real-time operational visibility to enable better, more coordinated care with limited resources.
Daniel Nelson, Director of Strategic Partnerships at RedSail Technologies
In the year ahead, pharma brand teams will continue to look for ways to efficiently invest in affordability solutions. Many times, independent pharmacies are overlooked due to the difficulty in reaching these underserved markets. According to data, upwards of 2 in 5 new patients abandon their initial fill due to affordability concerns. Pharmaceutical brands that lean into the community pharmacy space with automated affordability solutions will see meaningful patient gains with longitudinal fills from that independent pharmacy touch.
Imad Ahmed, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Product Officer at ReferWell
Chronic diseases and behavioral health are deeply intertwined, with a bidirectional relationship where each condition can worsen the other, driving up healthcare expenditures even further. In fact, according to the CDC, ninety percent of the nation’s $4.9 trillion dollar spend in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
With cost pressure continuing to mount into 2026, payers will need to double down on efforts for their risk stratification efforts, finding more effective ways to identify high-risk members, coordinate whole-person care, and address the non-clinical drivers of poor health and outcomes. Moving forward, this integrated approach will be essential for health plans looking to maintain financial sustainability while delivering equitable, high-value care in an increasingly challenging healthcare environment.
Meghan Harris, President & Chief Operations Officer at Acentra Health
In 2026, advancing health equity means translating Medicaid’s promise into practical, whole-person care that helps every individual achieve better health and overall better health outcomes. Integrated data must guide that effort and reveal areas where communities face gaps in access to care, nutrition, and economic stability. With smarter, more efficient technology, states can do more with less while remaining adaptable to policy changes. Real progress comes from aligning technology with clinical and community partners to address holistic needs, including mental and physical health, to strengthen care delivery and outcomes.
Cathy Hartman, Chief Healthcare Solutions Officer at Paradigm
As we look ahead to 2026, AI has the potential to become another source of digital inequity that exacerbates health disparities. The stakes are higher than ever – for example, surgery decisions are among the most complex and costly choices members face, and low health literacy often leads to unnecessary procedures and poorer outcomes. Empowered members, who understand their options and actively participate in shared decision-making, are more likely to avoid inappropriate surgeries, follow pre- and post-op instructions, and recover faster. As payers continue to feel the regulatory and provider pressures around legacy UM tactics like prior authorization, the introduction of solutions that directly impact health literacy and drive collaboration with providers continues to gain attention.
Lucas Najun Dubos, Healthcare and Life Sciences Partner at Globant
A small but growing number of digitally mature health systems will begin adding basic equity-monitoring requirements to AI procurement, signaling that fairness is moving from principle to practice. While full ‘auditable equity metrics’ are still emerging, vendors will increasingly need to demonstrate transparent bias-testing methods to remain competitive with these early adopters.
Elvis Ndansi, Chief of Global Population Health at Carna Health
Emerging predictive technologies and advanced data capabilities are shaping the future of personalized care, supporting informed decision-making for patients who need more than the status quo. Access to diverse patient data not only enhances health equity but it enables more precise interventions and expands access to tailored care across different demographics and remote regions.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing global health crisis projected to be the fifth leading cause of death by 2040. As we aim to slow this progression, population-level strategies, such as early screening, risk stratification, and preventive interventions, can help reduce disease burden, improve patient outcomes, and alleviate strain on healthcare systems. These strategies can be supported through the implementation of scalable point-of-care (POC) screening models that integrate predictive technologies into care plans.
Progressing to more advanced stages of CKD and dialysis is preventable and can be done effectively through population-based screening, in which a large number of people are screened during a determined period of time. POC testing comes into action here as it takes less than 15 minutes per patient and enables rapid screening capabilities. Combining these screening tools with electronic health records facilitates seamless data sharing and coordination among care teams, while also expanding access to rural and underserved populations.
While we’ve seen success with these models and technologies, there remains significant potential for growth as industry leaders increasingly collaborate to support population health initiatives. As these technologies evolve, the digital health landscape is becoming more interconnected, fostering a holistic, patient-centered approach that not only addresses immediate health concerns but also promotes long-term well-being at the population level.
Dr. Ilan Shapiro, Clinical Advisor at No Barrier
One of the most basic inequities happens in the first seconds of an encounter. Many patients and clinicians do not share a language. Even when there are translators, patients still face barriers at every touch point. From the moment they call the clinic to the moment they pick up a prescription. Technology gives us a chance to fix this. If a patient can communicate in their own language at each step, they make better decisions. They follow their treatment plan. They feel respected. Health systems and plans should invest in tools that remove language barriers so patients stay connected and informed through their entire experience.
Thank you so much to everyone who took the time out of their day to submit a prediction to us, and thank you to all of you for taking the time to read this article! We could not do this without all of your support. What do you think will happen for Health Equity in 2026? Let us know on social media. We’d love to hear from all of you!
Be sure to check out all of Healthcare IT Today’s Health Equity content and our other 2026 Health IT Predictions.
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