Health System Tailwinds: Entering 2026 With Pragmatic Optimism

As 2026 begins, health system leaders face no shortage of headwinds—margin pressure, volatile payer dynamics and persistent regulatory whiplash. Yet focusing exclusively on constraints obscures a more important truth: across the industry, meaningful momentum is building. Over the past year, progressive organizations have demonstrated that bold, system-wide transformation is not only possible but underway.

One of the most visible accelerants is ambient AI scribing. What entered 2025 as a niche pilot has rapidly scaled into daily practice for tens of thousands of clinicians. The shift is redefining the role of technology in clinical workflow, expanding beyond primary care to specialists, advanced practitioners and nurses. Forward-looking systems now target measurable throughput gains—two additional visits per physician per day—while setting the stage for AI-enabled advances in coding, revenue cycle, prior authorization and discharge planning. As several CIOs noted this year, the pace of adoption signals the most consequential workflow transformation in decades.

Equally important is the renewed commitment to workforce innovation. Though challenges persist, 2025 brought two notable shifts: contract labor and turnover receded to pre-pandemic levels, and leaders began investing in sustainable, homegrown pipelines. CentraCare’s partnership with the University of Minnesota to launch a medical school dedicated to rural and underserved specialties is emblematic of a new, long-term strategy. With the federal government preparing to deploy $50 billion to support rural transformation, similar programs are poised to expand nationally.

Health systems also made meaningful strides in strategic growth analytics. Organizations such as Tampa General and Norton Healthcare showcased how integrated data governance and real-time dashboards can anchor system-wide planning, accelerate decision-making and support scalable, market-aligned growth. Their models illustrate how analytics maturity directly enables systemness.

Speaking of systemness, 2025 revealed fresh evidence that it is moving from aspiration to operational reality. From cross-campus capital alignment and access strategies to leadership development and cultural integration, executives are proactively defining what it means to perform—and grow—as one system.

In a year that challenged even the most resilient organizations, these efforts represent more than isolated bright spots. They signal a sector embracing small wins that compound into long-term advantage. As we enter 2026, these tailwinds offer not just optimism—but strategic direction—for health system leaders prepared to harness them.

Sg2 members are invited to join us for our annual kickoff webinar, Three Years Forward: Forecasting the Forces Shaping Health Care. Not a member? Reach out to learnmore@sg2.com for information on the expert intelligence, data-driven insights and strategic perspective Sg2 offers to health system C-Suites.