Kyndryl has released year end trends and predictions for Healthcare sector for 2025. With a rise in high-profile breaches, healthcare leaders are prioritizing cybersecurity to protect sensitive data while managing outdated IT systems. But only 36% feel fully prepared to handle future risks, highlighting a significant area for improvement. Moreover, while 74% of healthcare leaders are investing in generative AI, only 45% report a positive ROI. In 2025, the focus will shift towards integrating generative AI into everyday operations through training and cultural change to maximize its potential.
“Traditional approaches to technical leadership won’t be enough to achieve the 360-degree approach to digital healthcare that today’s consumers demand. To overcome multiplying challenges in a fast-changing market landscape, technology leaders must operate as business leaders first — executives armed with compelling data who are focused on accomplishing the most critical business goals.” — Trent Sanders, Vice President, Healthcare
Key predictions for 2025–
Operating margins are slowly stabilizing as the pandemic’s shockwaves subside, but many health systems are still in financial recovery. In the next year, CIOs will start thinking more like CFOs to accelerate transformation. This mindset shift — melding technical expertise with a relentless focus on achieving business outcomes — will be key to accomplishing a growing to-do list of IT projects, breaking down organizational silos that stand in the way of innovation and bridging the readiness divide.
Generative AI has transformative potential for the healthcare sector, with use cases that support earlier disease detection, faster and more accurate claims processing, improved electronic health record (EHR) processes and supercharged capabilities for medical researchers. But while 74% of healthcare leaders report they are investing in generative AI, only 45% report a net positive return on investment. To turn generative AI into a business catalyst, healthcare organizations will shift their focus from technological change to behavioral change. In the next year, the sector’s leaders will work to turn generative AI into a core component of the modern healthcare workplace through educational training and cultural transformation.
In 2024, four major health systems announced they had come together to launch a new company dedicated to tackling the industry’s biggest challenges. This trend will grow in 2025, as healthcare systems seeking to benefit from shared technology investment and innovation look for more opportunities to collaborate rather than consolidate. Health systems will explore new avenues for partnership and build strategic alliances that aim to overcome the inherent challenges of operating with limited skillsets and budgets.
Healthcare providers will focus on simplifying their platform footprint to drive operational efficiency, support the integration needs of newer technologies like generative AI and chart a path to profitability. These major technology decisions will drive long-term investments in systems that support clinical workflows and collaboration, enterprise resource planning and integration. Embracing a core set of platforms can also create opportunities for organizations to force change throughout other systems in need of a refresh.
