AI in Healthcare in 2026: From Hype to Impact, According to 26 Industry Leaders

In a recent article by the Chief Healthcare Executive, they gathered projections from 26 leaders for predictions of AI in healthcare for 2026.

Taken together, their perspectives point to a clear shift: the industry is moving away from experimentation and toward intentional, measurable, and human-centred AI adoption.

Aaron Patzer, CEO and co-founder of Vital, points out a reality many healthcare systems are still grappling with.

“Patients aren’t waiting for permission — they’re already running their doctor’s notes and lab results through ChatGPT.”, Aaron Patzer.

While patients explore AI on their own, hospitals remain cautious, often due to the lack of clear standards. Patzer predicts that 2026 will force healthcare organisations to respond, as patient-facing AI standards emerge that are safer and more clinically grounded than today’s general-purpose tools.

From Pilots to Proof: ROI Takes Center Stage

Across nearly all perspectives, one message is consistent: the pilot era is ending.

Scott R. Schell, Chief Medical Officer at Cognizant, describes 2026 as a test of whether AI can be governed, audited, and trusted at scale. Referencing a Forbes analysis citing Menlo Ventures, he notes that healthcare is adopting AI at twice the rate of the broader economy — yet only around 20% of organisations are currently using it. This acceleration, he argues, confirms what many leaders are already seeing: AI must now move beyond experimentation and demonstrate real clinical and financial value.

Smarter Infrastructure, Smaller Models, Better Trust

As AI scales, leaders are also becoming more pragmatic about technology choices. David Lareau, CEO of Medicomp Systems, warns that large language models can become cost-prohibitive at production scale, pushing organisations toward smaller, domain-specific models that balance innovation with cost control and data protection.

Clay Ritchey, CEO of Verato, frames 2026 as a turning point where healthcare organisations rebuild their data foundations, treating identity as a unifying layer that enables AI and analytics to operate with confidence.

Across these views, one theme stands out: trust, transparency, and governance are no longer optional.

AI as a Partner, Not a Replacement

Several leaders describe a future where AI acts as an intelligent collaborator. Nicole Rogas, President at RevSpring introduces the idea of “automated empathy,” where AI helps organisations respond with compassion, clarity, and appropriate human escalation.

From diagnostics to revenue cycle management, clinical documentation, and trial design, AI’s role is expanding, but the emphasis is shifting. As Frank Forte CEO of EnableComp notes, the most effective AI will be trained on real-world domain expertise, not generic models.

What 2026 Ultimately Represents

The next measure of success is no longer whether AI works, but whether it can explain itself, earn trust, and genuinely serve people at scale. In that sense, the future of AI in healthcare looks less like a technological race, and more like a collective effort to align innovation with human needs.

Looking ahead to the end of 2026, it will be telling to see how far healthcare has progressed in turning promise into impact.

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