Healthcare organizations are moving beyond the AI hype cycle, HIMSS26 attendees agree

As we head into April and draw down our post-HIMSS26 written coverage (there's plenty of HIMSS TV footage still to come), it's worth taking another look back at a busy few days this past month, where 24,000 healthcare and IT leaders, old and new friends from all over the world, flocked to Las Vegas to learn from each other about the leading-edge technologies transforming the global health ecosystem.

Healthcare IT News heard recently from a dozen or so leaders from just some of the 900-plus companies that attended the annual Global Health Conference & Exhibition. And they offered their impressions and perspectives on some of the big takeaways from a productive and eventful week.

It probably will not surprise you that artificial intelligence, in all its myriad uses and use cases, was top of mind for most of them. But all of them said they took some valuable lessons away from HIMSS26.

And they expressed the hope that the things they and their clients learned there would translate into valuable and lasting improvements at hospitals and health systems large and small – that what happened in Vegas, in other words, wouldn't stay in Vegas.

Building toward AI staying power

"The conversation at HIMSS this year made it clear that healthcare organizations are moving beyond the AI hype cycle and focusing on practical implementation," said Sandra Johnson, senior VP for client services at CliniComp.

"Leaders are looking for solutions that integrate directly into clinical workflows, particularly within the EHR, so technology can support clinicians without adding complexity," Johnson added. "The real opportunity now is using AI and digital tools to reduce administrative burden and give clinicians more time with patients."

"What struck me most this year was that governance and trust were finally being treated as design requirements, not compliance exercises bolted on after deployment," said Dr. Niki Panich, chief medical officer at Penguin Ai.

"That shift matters," she said. "For the first time, the senior executives were asking not just what AI could do, but how it would behave under real clinical and regulatory pressure. That is the conversation healthcare has always needed to have. Speed without accountability is not progress; it is simply a faster way to erode the trust of patients and clinicians."

For his part, Philipp von Gilsa, CEO of Kontakt.io, noted how healthcare CIOs at HIMSS26 "talked about investing heavily in digitization, but the real imperative is ensuring AI is applied to drive measurable operational outcomes, not just aggregate more data.

"The real opportunity lies in transforming fragmented clinical and operational signals into coordinated, real-time decisions that help health systems match supply with demand, ease workforce strain and improve patient access," he added. "AI must function as an operational catalyst, enabling leaders to unlock existing capacity and deliver better care with the resources they already have."

Automation opportunities for RCM, Rx

"At HIMSS 2026, the message for revenue cycle leaders is clear: For the first time in history, real intelligence is available on demand, and in revenue cycle management technology has moved from optional to essential," said Anurag Mehta, CEO and cofounder of Omega Healthcare.

"What works in RCM is not AI replacing human judgment, nor humans simply validating AI outputs after the fact – it is intelligence shaped by domain expertise from the start, embedded directly into workflows," Mehta added. "In an environment of constant payer shifts, regulatory change and financial pressure, the future of RCM will belong to organizations that combine AI-powered execution with expert-driven oversight to remain accurate, compliant and financially resilient."

For his part, Ryne Natzke, chief commercial officer at TrustCommerce, a RevSpring company, said that, amid the "frenzy of many connections with the leaders helping drive healthcare forward," patient experience continues to be a top priority – not least on the financial side.

"Something that is resonating across the industry is exciting applications of predictive technology to allow for a more personalized experience, which also helps make the payment process easier," said Natzke.

Meanwhile, Joseph Kleiman, president of Buzz Health, noted how "the prescription journey has outgrown the infrastructure built to support it." At HIMSS26, he said, he noticed that "the conversation has clearly shifted from whether alternative pricing models belong in the ecosystem to how quickly organizations can integrate them."

That's a "meaningful change," he added, and an area where AI-enabled automation can help: "The companies that manage prescription discount programs, real-time decisioning and adherence reporting as connected pieces of the same puzzle will be the ones that move the industry forward."

Policies around rural health, data exchange

"Rural health continued to be a resounding theme at HIMSS, with federal and state leaders underscoring how interoperability between providers, payers and patients are becoming foundational infrastructure rather than optional pilots," said Steve Holt, VP of government affairs at PointClickCare. "There were highlights on telehealth modernization and sustainability, nationwide data exchange and remote patient monitoring – often backed by RHTP and other CMMI model incentives – to help rural providers overcome workforce shortages and geographic isolation.

"The same is true for artificial intelligence adoption especially with low-risk administrative tasks in clinical settings," Holt added. "Across discussions, stakeholders emphasized that scaling these efforts for rural hospitals, long-term and post-acute care (LTPAC), and small practices will require clear federal and state aligned guardrails, sustainable funding and technology standards that lift all providers and patients regardless of their geographic location."

Meanwhile, Patrick Lane, president of Health Gorilla, a designated QHIN under TEFCA, noted continued growth and enthusiasm around the federally backed information exchange initiative.

"HIMSS provides a valuable opportunity for the healthcare community to collaborate on building the national data infrastructure needed to support better care, stronger privacy protections and meaningful innovation," said Lane.

Questions still to be answered: LLMs, ROI, patient safety and more

"One of the biggest shifts at HIMSS this year was a growing recognition that large language models alone aren't the answer in healthcare," said Kim Perry, chief growth officer at emtellgient. "The quality still isn't where it needs to be, and the costs are significant.

"While organizations are experimenting and investing heavily in the early days, the real conversation is quickly shifting toward optimization," she added. "The principal question is how organizations can begin to combine LLMs with other purpose-built tech and data pipelines to deliver more accurate, efficient and sustainable solutions to improve care."

For her part, Dr. Sari Green, physician executive director at Accuity, sees potential for AI, but says humans are essential for patient safety.

"At HIMSS, there was a lot of conversation around what safe AI use in healthcare really means," said Green. "At its best, AI should accelerate analysis, simplify complexity, and surface patterns and gaps that humans might miss. It's clear that AI isn't a replacement for expertise; human judgment remains essential to validate insights and ensure the right decisions are made for patients."

Meanwhile, Marcus Perez, president of Altera Digital Health, said, "It's clear from HIMSS26 that healthcare leaders recognize that a full return on their AI investments requires a single source of clinical truth.

"Automation and interoperability will not meaningfully enable better outcomes without that foundational layer," he said. "Clinical decision-makers need trusted, real-time insights and a clear picture of the patient to ensure AI delivers real value, and not just hype, for care organizations."

"HIMSS26 reinforced that the future of healthcare is built on true patient connectedness," said Dr. Nick Sterling, chief medical information officer at Vital. "Advances in AI and interoperability are finally dismantling longstanding data and communication silos, enabling clinicians, care teams and patients to collaborate in ways that drive measurable real-world outcomes at scale."

"At HIMSS 2026, many conversations centered on how AI in healthcare has moved beyond pilots and into real operational use," added Brian Robertson, founder and CEO of VisiQuate. "More importantly, there's a realization that even in an AI world, human expertise is what matters most.

"In addition, AI is no longer just generating more data; it's also about driving real business and financial outcomes," said Robertson. "The future of healthcare operations and revenue cycle is human-plus-AI, with analytics and automation scaling efficiency and experienced professionals providing the judgment, context and oversight needed to turn AI into positive outcomes."

Mike Miliard is Executive Editor of Healthcare IT NewsEmail the writer: [email protected]Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.