Last year, we outlined our predictions for the year ahead with a focus on how healthcare’s evolution will put providers at critical crossroads in how they deliver care, engage patients, prioritize personalization and navigate shifting industry dynamics. A driving force, as we predicted, were trends such as value-based care (VBC), increased outpatient services, advances in AI technology to reshape patient expectations, the patient-provider relationship, and the rise in behavioral health and chronic care management needs, presenting new challenges – and opportunities – for health systems.
Let’s revisit the five key trends that we thought would shape healthcare providers’ strategies in the coming year and what we think lies ahead for 2026.
- 2025 Prediction: With an Increase in VBC Models, Providers will Need a More Holistic, Comprehensive View of Patients [ 2026 Outlook: An Ongoing Battle]
McKinsey data found that by 2027, there will be 90 million patients in VBC models, more than double the number in 2022. VBC transitions take time, and so does this prediction.
The goal of VBC is to promote integrated care, delivering high-quality care services and optimizing costs using a patient-centered approach. It involves care teams working together to address all health needs, including mental health and social determinants, tailoring an individualized care plan and providing continuous monitoring, education, and support, which entails open lines of personalized and consistent communication.
To accomplish this goal, providers still require a deeper understanding of a patient and a patient’s ongoing needs. For example, health systems can adopt a holistic approach to managing chronic diseases, focusing on patient outcomes and cost reduction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that three in four American adults have at least one chronic condition, and over half have two or more chronic conditions. Meaning that this collaborative approach to care will need to continue.
A multidisciplinary team, including physicians, dietitians, and specialists, would work together to create personalized care plans. These plans, for diabetes, for example, feature continuous glucose monitoring for real-time data, comprehensive patient education to empower self-management, and coordinated care to address comorbidities. Behavioral health support would also be provided to manage the psychological impact of diabetes. Additionally, providers can connect patients with community resources, such as local gyms and nutrition programs, and address social determinants of health (SDoH) by ensuring access to affordable medications and healthy food. This integrated approach not only improves diabetes management but also enhances overall quality of life, reduces emergency care needs, and lowers long-term healthcare costs.
To provide such comprehensive care and support requires a deep patient understanding. As the trend toward value-based care grows, more health systems will prioritize the collection and interpretation of all patient data to deliver a personalized healthcare experience that is a hallmark of the value-based care movement. This is also where the industry’s focus on data readiness becomes foundational, helping health systems improve data quality and accessibility so that more of their patient data can actually be used to drive individualized care.
- 2025 Prediction: A Shift to Outpatient Care will Heighten the Need for Dynamic Patient Journey Personalization. [ 2026 Outlook: The Urgent Care Market Keeps Growing, Fueled by Systems!]
More than 430 urgent care centers opened in new locations in the first half of 2025. Nearly 40% of those centers are affiliated with hospitals, according to data from Urgent Care Consultants and shared by the organizations President Alan Ayers with Modern Healthcare.
Urgent care is more than patient convenience; it is expansion opportunity for health systems to retain and attract patients. The key is data. The more a health system knows about the patient or prospect, the better care it can provide, both at the point of care and overt time, while creating opportunities to introduce new service lines that support acquisition goals.
Comprehensive, contextual patient data can help providers understand if the patient needs a PCP, or if there are any underlying, and potentially, unaddressed health conditions. These insights create opportunities for deeper hyper-personalization, ensuring the system not only captures a patient’s immediate needs, but anticipates future ones, guiding them intentionally into longitudinal care.
Diversified care access is allowing health systems to cast a wider net for patients while engagement strategies deepen understanding of those they serve.  These efforts not only ensure continuity of care but also safeguard financial sustainability and VBC alignment in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape. Unified and actionable medical and behavioral data enables urgent care centers and their affiliated systems to execute targeted marketing campaigns and act as critical entry points for attracting and converting new patients. This integrated approach delivers personalized, closed-loop care journeys, differentiating organizations from competitors and fostering long-term patient loyalty.
- 2025 Prediction: Behavioral Health and Chronic Care Management Will Change the Patient-Provider Dynamic [ 2026 Outlook: Care Alignment for Mental and Physical Health is Key]
We previously highlighted that roughly 25 percent of the U.S. population is expected to utilize behavioral health services by 2027, while about 90 percent of the nation’s $4.5 trillion in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.
Provider alignment is critical for managing both behavioral health and chronic conditions, especially if comorbidities are involved. To deliver truly effective care, providers need to understand the patient beyond their medical record and gain a holistic view of the patient’s lived experience.  This includes leveraging SDoH and demographic data, as well understanding prior care relationships, to inform where the care plan should go next.
With these insights, care teams can identify preferred outreach channels, motivators, barriers, and optimal engagement times.  That means behavioral health and chronic care support becomes tailored, not generic, building trust and making patients feel seen and understood. Personalized communication opens the door to stronger engagement and follow-up, enabling providers to treat the patient as a whole.
This deeper level of personalization will become even more important as federal policies, including potential Medicaid eligibility shifts and funding changes, continue to reshape who has access to what services and when.
- 2025 Prediction: AI Investment in Healthcare Will Continue to Experience Significant Growth
[ 2026 Outlook: Spot on and Still Growing!]
The healthcare market is quickly advancing in generative AI (GenAI), agentic AI, and real-time interactions. Approximately 65 percent of U.S. hospitals report using AI-assisted predictive models, according to a study published in Health Affairs, which means future-proofing data is no longer optional; it’s strategic. Health system leaders require data that is complete, accurate, timely, actionable, trusted, and compliant to meet the new year’s technological demands.
As we previously highlighted, patient communication tools now serve as a digital front door, powered by conversational interfaces and generative AI, fundamentally reshaping the patient-provider relationship.
For the evolving AI use cases, providers need to first establish a unified patient profile that includes all relevant patient data. This means detailed and up-to-date medical history, clinical and claims data, SDoH, preferences and behaviors. A real-time patient profile with clean, high-quality data is the foundation for effective AI training. When AI is fed unified data, it will produce the most relevant patient engagement and experience opportunities, whether a personalized care plan, chatbot interactions, or answering patient questions through an LLM.
This reinforces why data readiness matters: 97% of healthcare data is currently wasted, and 93% of healthcare leaders say high-quality data is essential. A strong focus on data readiness resolves quality issues and makes data accessible across the enterprise, ensuring AI initiatives deliver real value.
- 2025 Prediction: Health Systems Will Continue to Prioritize Data Security [ 2026 Outlook: Still (Always!) a Priority Item]
As of Oct. 3, 2025, over 33 million Americans we affected from the 364 hacking incidents that have been reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. This means patient records are likely stolen, in part or in full, by hackers.
To safeguard against data breaches, like last year, 2026 will see more healthcare systems be mindful of how they collect and use patient data, for marketing and other business purposes. Keeping patient data – particularly PHI – behind the organization’s own firewall is essential. Because of this, healthcare systems will keep their technology infrastructure on-premises or use a private cloud where patient data – whether in an EHR or a marketing platform – will remain in place using a modern data cloud.
Data quality and personalization continue to be the cornerstone of success for health systems navigating the healthcare complexities of 2025. Whether adapting to VBC models, leveraging AI for patient engagement, or prioritizing data security, the ability to deliver tailored, patient-centric experiences will define the leaders of tomorrow. By embracing these trends and focusing on a holistic understanding of patient needs, providers build trust with the patients they serve.
Ultimately, organizations that prioritize data readiness, ensuring clean, complete, and accessible data, will be best positioned to scale hyper-personalized experiences, drive better outcomes, and remain competitive amid regulatory and funding shifts such as ongoing Medicaid redeterminations and enrollment fluctuations. Those that invest in data readiness and personalization now won’t just adapt to change, they’ll define the future of healthcare.
