In a recap of takeaways from almost any technology-adjacent industry event these days – including ones published on this very blog – you’ll see plenty of familiar refrains: how AI is transforming the industry, who’s seeing success and what’s coming next.
There was certainly no shortage of AI discussion at HIMSS26 last week, which convened health IT leaders in Las Vegas. I could easily write a similar version of that story. But the truth is, the presence and promises of AI have been table stakes in health IT for several years.
What’s different now is the urgency to deliver real impact and a realization of just how difficult that is to achieve.
What Problem Are You Solving?
That’s not to say the past several years of AI in healthcare have been unproductive. There were several presentations at HIMSS on AI applications already delivering real results, particularly in areas like ambient listening and medical imaging.
Why have those two use cases gained traction? The technology provides benefits that are easy to articulate for both clinicians and patients. They integrate well with existing systems, demonstrate ROI quickly and are scalable.
A clear sentiment throughout the conference was that the healthcare buyers are no longer easily swayed by features; they’re wowed by AI that solves a real business problem. The HIMSS exhibitor floor was filled with AI companies that claim to solve a problem, but only a few can point to real, sustained success stories that have scaled. Those are the solutions that will win.
Unsticking Healthcare
Healthcare is often touted as one of the industries best positioned to benefit from AI, and in many ways, that’s true. Healthcare is filled with manual processes and complex workflows that are ripe for automation. But automation and AI aren’t new concepts, so why are we still having the same conversations about their potential?
Part of the answer came into focus when comparing two keynote perspectives.
John McNeil, former president at Tesla, detailed how he and his team took a radical simplicity approach to encourage innovation, asking questions like: How do we make it so customers can buy a car in 10 clicks instead of 50? How do we simplify the assembly processes so they require less space and less expensive equipment?
In contrast, Sumbul Ahmand Desai, VP of health and fitness at Apple, offered a perspective that will sound more familiar to the typically cautious healthcare executive. She discussed how Apple’s products take years to develop, and how being first to market matters less than ensuring appropriate clinical rigor and privacy safeguards.
Those contrasting perspectives highlight the challenges healthcare innovation faces.
Few industries operate under higher stakes than healthcare. Life-and-death decisions, strict regulatory requirements and the number of players involved create an inherently complex system. Those challenges make simplicity seem like a pipe dream.
And yet, healthcare isn’t alone in facing these challenges. Carmakers also face regulatory hurdles, safety concerns and complexity while struggling to innovate in a market dominated by well-established leaders. It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison (it’s an Apple-to-Tesla comparison, in fact), but it still offers valuable considerations.
As McNeil noted, healthcare isn’t an industry that’s well-suited for innovation, and getting buy-in can be a slog. Regardless, change is coming, and as HIMSS president Hal Wolfe said in his remarks, the industry is reaching a tipping point.
Technology will continue to advance, and those ahead of the curve will adapt. They will learn from Tesla and other innovators, finding ways to leverage technology and simplify processes to achieve lower costs, better experiences, and improved patient outcomes. As the industry continues to consolidate, those who don’t take a similar approach will struggle to keep up.
AI Everywhere
HIMSS demonstrated that the health IT community is aware of this shift, and technology companies are working to articulate the problems they solve and how their solutions simplify workflows. Almost without exception, those solutions involve AI, alongside some combination of the words “data,” “insights,” and “analytics.”
But with many AI implementations still in early stages, it can feel impossible to separate meaningful innovation from noise.
If you’re navigating that challenge and looking for ways to elevate your brand above the healthcare noise, reach out at [email protected].
V2 Communications is an integrated communications and PR firm that helps healthcare, B2B and energy and climate technology companies build visibility, strengthen reputation and adapt to how audiences discover and evaluate brands in an AI-driven landscape.