Healthcare & Interoperability
HIMSS 2026: The Three Core Trends Shaping Healthcare IT Priorities
Healthcare & InteroperabilityOver 24,000 healthcare professionals converged at this year’s HIMSS Global Health Conference in Las Vegas, and one thing was clear: Healthcare leaders are now operating under a mandate of pragmatism, demanding measurable value, auditable governance, and solutions that solve the industry’s most persistent problem: unstructured data.
During a HIMSS member focus group session organized and moderated by eFax®, CIOs, healthcare admins, and other key IT executives shared three fundamental trends shaping the future of AI integration in healthcare.
1. Trust is the Ultimate Currency in the Age of AI
Health leaders are demanding transparency on how organizational data is used to train AI models. Vendors who lack a clear cybersecurity plan, are opaque about where patient data is being housed, or who can sell data to third-party vendors have become severe red flags for IT leadership. Without robust AI governance, health systems risk serious financial and security exposure; for context, only 18% of health systems have a fully mature AI governance structure.
Leaders are prioritizing tools and partners that can demonstrate safeguards to eliminate health bias and negative impacts on vulnerable populations. By implementing clear governance—like an AI governance council—health systems are twice as likely to achieve ROI on their AI investments within 12 months.
2. The “Dirty Data” Reality: The Barrier to FHIR Interoperability
CIOs consistently cite clinical notes, medical records, prior authorizations, and outside radiology images as major sources of their unstructured data challenge. Unstructured data contains critical patient information that is essential for a complete longitudinal patient record, yet it remains inaccessible to many AI applications.
As one HIMSS focus group participant also noted, “When data comes in that’s structured, but structured incorrectly, this can cause major delays”. This narrative bloat – “structured” fields that are actually just dumps of unstructured clinical notes – paired with a constant stream of duplicative records makes it nearly impossible to accomplish seamless data exchange.
The Key to Interoperability: There was unanimity among group members that the movement toward FHIR cannot be completed unless unstructured data is systematically converted into structured, discoverable data. This is where the solution to greater interoperability lies: leveraging intelligent document processing solutions like eFax® Clarity – with natural language processing and machine learning – to analyze unstructured documents, extract key data, and convert it into standardized formats like FHIR. This sensible approach allows resource-strapped organizations, particularly those in rural or post-acute care settings, to participate in health information exchange using a robust intelligent data extraction solution layered on top of what they already have, like digital cloud faxing.
3. No ROI, No Project: The Shift to Measurable Financial Value
The trend of innovation for innovation’s sake is no longer enticing enough for IT leaders to implement new tech. Every investment—from AI to infrastructure modernization—is now subject to a rigorous ROI justification. CIOs are consistently navigating competing priorities, and projects with higher ROI are always at the top of the list.
Buyers are shifting their focus from “soft ROI” (such as simply reducing physician burnout or making workflows easier) to demonstrable financial value. With mounting regulatory pressures to achieve true interoperability through digital maturity, the financial value added must be measurable, whether it involves revenue capture, increasing patient throughput, or improving referral management.
In fact, the majority of healthcare executives (70%) report at least one AI pilot that never moved past limited deployment, largely due to poorly chosen KPIs and a lack of governance to measure outcomes. Successful AI initiatives are those that focus on high-impact, paper-heavy, rules-based processes—like patient intake and referrals—where the measurable gains in efficiency and revenue are clear. If the financial value is not measurable, it is not a priority for 2026 budgets.
Putting It All Together
Moving beyond pilot programs, health IT leaders must embrace a pragmatic implementation strategy that integrates the mandates of trust, measurable ROI, and data quality. The persistent challenge of unstructured data, residing within legacy workflows, is the single greatest obstacle to achieving AI maturity and FHIR interoperability.
Partnering with eFax® aligns perfectly with the strict demands of modern healthcare IT. Our solutions offer the transparency and robust governance required to protect sensitive patient data while maintaining full HIPAA compliance and secure audit trails. By automating paper-heavy, rules-based processes like patient intake and referrals, eFax® delivers the concrete, measurable ROI that leadership demands for new technology investments.
By converting “dirty data” into structured, discoverable formats, organizations can lay the necessary foundation for the efficiency, transparency, and seamless interoperability required to meet the demands of 2026 budgets and patient safety.
Discover how eFax® can modernize your document workflows and turn your unstructured documents into actionable intelligence. Contact our team today to schedule a personalized demo and take the next step toward true digital maturity. What workflow challenges will you automate first?
