The biggest trends from HIMSS 2026 and what they mean for healthcare leaders

This year at HIMSS, one message was clear from nearly every conversation we had: the need for better, faster, and more actionable insights is more important than ever. As healthcare organizations work to modernize operations and expand access to care, it seems as if success increasingly depends on the ability to turn data into decisions—whether those decisions are made by AI or otherwise.

The sentiment was reflected across the conference. Rather than asking, “What can this new technology do?”, sessions and workshops instead focused on where these innovations can deliver measurable impact, with an emphasis on outcomes, efficiency, and scalability.

If you couldn’t make it to Las Vegas—or just need a quick way to revisit and share the most important discussions—we’ve got you covered. Below, we break down some of the major trends from HIMSS 2026 and what they mean for organizations keeping a keen eye on the future of digital health.

CMS doubles down on technology as the key to cutting costs and expanding care

One of the most talked about moments at HIMSS 2026 came during CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz’s keynote, where he outlined a roadmap for the future of U.S. healthcare that stressed treating patients in the home before they reach the hospital.

Oz pointed to a persistent challenge facing the industry: year-over-year, healthcare costs continue to rise even as technology advances (it is usually touted as a deflationary force). Even so, Oz claims that investing in technology will be critical to lowering costs, alleviating administrative burden, reducing waste, and enabling patients and Medicare beneficiaries to make more informed decisions regarding their health.

Telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and digital care models are already moving the industry in this direction. But a major focus of Oz’s remarks—and a dominant theme across HIMSS—was the role of agentic AI. These systems, designed to act autonomously across workflows, have the potential to guide patients, support care decisions, and improve access to services outside of traditional clinical settings. Oz emphasized that CMS may play a role in bringing these capabilities to every Medicare beneficiary in the coming years.

This vision is particularly relevant for rural healthcare, where access challenges, workforce shortages, and financial pressures continue to strain providers. At HIMSS, rural health was top of mind for many attendees. Roughly 25% of conversations at the Definitive Healthcare booth touched on this issue in some capacity.

That urgency is reinforced by the launch of CMS’ Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program, a $50 billion initiative running from 2026 to 2030 aimed at stabilizing and modernizing rural care delivery. Specifically, the program’s goal is to promote rural health innovation and infrastructure development while cultivating strategic partnerships and attracting a highly skilled workforce.

That money, however, doesn’t address the issue that many physicians and healthcare practitioners may not want to live outside of urban areas. Oz says this is where AI tools and telehealth can help. Using these technologies can extend the reach of providers into rural communities and move more care into patients’ homes.

Still, this marks a period of significant transformation for healthcare providers across the nation. State agencies and commercial organizations will need to identify underserved populations, track outcomes, and allocate resources effectively (among many other tasks) to make the most of the funds flowing in. The answer to these challenges, increasingly, comes down to data and clear insight into the market. Solutions like Definitive Healthcare’s HospitalView and ClinicView can help organizations identify and evaluate rural providers, understand patient populations, and uncover opportunities to expand access and improve care outcomes.

Tech giants are expanding their footprint in the healthcare market with agentic AI leading the way

As has been the case at nearly every major health conference in recent memory, the myriad use cases and challenges orbiting AI continue to dominate the conversation. It was no different at HIMSS, but this time the conversation leaned heavily into interrogating the tangible, practical value AI can provide.

This goes beyond content generation and simple chatbot capabilities. Some of the world’s largest technology companies have announced new autonomous AI agents and solutions that aim to further revolutionize healthcare.

Epic, the nation’s largest EHR vendor, introduced Agent Factory, a no-code platform that allows healthcare organizations to build and deploy their own AI agents within existing systems. The company also showcased a set of purpose-built AI personas designed to assist with clinical documentation, revenue cycle management, patient engagement, and more.

Epic is uniquely positioned to operationalize AI at this scale, thanks to a vast install base and deep pre-existing integration into clinical workflows.

At the same time, giants like Microsoft, Google Cloud, Oracle, NVIDIA, and Amazon all announced new AI tools tailored to specific healthcare use cases. The range of applications varied broadly, from optimizing supply chains and mining large datasets to enhancing clinical decision support, enabling ambient clinical documentation, improving medication adherence, and more.

Together, these developments signal a rapid influx of autonomous tools entering the market, giving organizations more options than ever to embed AI across the enterprise. The momentum behind this shift is significant. According to Gartner, 15% of day-to-day work decisions are expected to be made autonomously by agentic AI by 2028, up from virtually none in 2024. Additionally, one-third of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI capabilities, compared to less than 1% today.

Companies are marketing interoperability as a competitive advantage

As healthcare organizations invest more heavily in AI, it’s becoming clear that interoperability is a critical enabler of success. Afterall, AI systems are only as effective as the data they’re trained on, and the systems they can access. Without connected, high-quality data flowing across the ecosystem, even the most advanced tools will struggle to deliver meaningful value.

This is causing many companies to take a hard look at their data, its quality, where it’s stored, and how easily agents can pull information. The organizations that can unify data across clinical, operational, and financial systems are the ones more likely to remain competitive and grow in 2026 and beyond, and we saw plenty of companies positioning the interoperability of their solution as a competitive advantage.

The federal government is also prioritizing data liquidity. Dr. Thomas Keane, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, said during a presentation at HIMSS that ease of health data exchange is a top priority and that some developers and providers may be penalized for blocking information. The reason? Clarity. Treating patients without a full picture of their health background can lead to care gaps, medical errors, readmissions, and more. For companies, an interoperable system offers greater clarity into the market, helping your customers see a connected healthcare ecosystem that brings together providers, pharmacies, labs, and other digital health platforms.

What comes next for digital health

HIMSS highlighted that most companies and providers are all-in on AI. However, success will hinge on how companies will use these innovative technologies to create meaningful impact.

But execution requires more than technology alone. It requires clear, connected, and reliable data—the foundation for better decisions, more efficient operations, and measurable outcomes.

That’s where Definitive Healthcare can help.

With industry-leading datasets and solutions spanning providers, claims, and care delivery, Definitive Healthcare gives organizations the insight they need to identify opportunities, understand complex markets, and make smarter, faster decisions. Whether you’re looking to expand into new markets, support rural providers, or maximize the impact of your AI and digital health investments, having the right data in place is critical.

Book a demo with Definitive Healthcare to see how our data and analytics can help you drive meaningful results today.