Healthcare organizations are implementing commercial AI solutions at more than twice the rate (2.2x) of the broader US economy, according to a recent report from Menlo Ventures. Hospitals and health systems dominate AI adoption in healthcare, accounting for 75% of the spending total. The greatest current demand for AI in healthcare is among provider organizations that must improve doctors’ workflows and cut admin waste. AI startups and incumbents will compete by delivering revenue-driving tools that go beyond note transcription and earning physician trust through models that enhance diagnostic accuracy.

The trend: Healthcare executives expect AI adoption to be the leading trend in the next two years and have high expectations for improvements in patient care, per a new survey from Sage Growth Partners. Sage surveyed 101 healthcare system and hospital C-suite executives during the second quarter about AI opportunities and investment plans. AI can help healthcare shift from reactive to proactive care by transforming the vast amount of data from health sensors into actionable insights. However, the key is to integrate this AI as a tool to support, not replace, a provider's judgment. AI predictive assessments and analytics add valuable information, but providers’ experience, critical thinking, and empathy are necessary not only for balanced diagnoses but also to maintain patients’ trust. A recent study in JAMA found that patients think physicians who use AI are less trustworthy, less competent, and less empathetic than those who didn’t. For now at least, AI use in healthcare is a significant perception hurdle requiring transparent disclosure and careful oversight.

The trend: US consumers are losing faith in most components of the healthcare system, including federal health agencies and their leaders, drugmakers, insurers, and hospitals. Our take: Marketers at healthcare and pharma organizations (including providers, insurers, public health agencies, and drugmakers) must develop strategies to rebuild trust and guide patients to reliable information during a time of great uncertainty. Vaccine makers should partner with trusted medical groups, local physicians, and pharmacists to develop educational materials with clinical data that counter vaccine hesitancy among consumers. Pharma companies and insurers should address consumer frustrations through open public dialogue and provide transparent explanations for controversial pricing decisions. Drugmakers should additionally monitor condition-specific forums and social platforms like Reddit, where consumers share treatment experiences, and use these spaces to offer cost-saving tools for pricey medications.

Consumer trust in the US healthcare system and its key players has eroded. Brands now face patients who distrust traditional guidance—often due to political polarization—and seek answers from unverified sources. Here’s how brands and marketers can win back patient trust and rebuild deteriorating reputations.

Prescription drug prices along with other healthcare costs like hospital services and nursing homes, are growing faster than overall inflation, but slower than consumer costs like housing, food, and coffee, per GoodRx Research’s latest data. Pharma marketers need to use empathy to connect with the growing group of underinsured consumers. They should be transparent about prices and acknowledge the frustration consumers feel around the complexity of the US healthcare and insurance system. Proactively highlight help offered for consumers like financial assistance, savings tools, and patient support programs.

The trend: Over three-quarters of US hospitals now task pharmacists with patient care responsibilities, according to a recently published survey from the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. Our take: Struggling retail pharmacies should also entrust pharmacists to play a bigger role in patient care, especially as some drugstores pivot to health-focused store formats.

The pharma industry moved up from last place in Gallup’s annual survey of US industry reputation, although 58% of consumers still view the industry negatively. Healthcare fared better landing in the middle of the list, but still notched a 51% negative rating. Consumers are still angry about high pharma drug prices, but they’re increasingly aware that insurers, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and hospital systems are part of the problem. There’s an opportunity for pharma to continue to spotlight how PBMs drive up drug prices, for instance. But companies should also amplify more recent efforts, like creating US jobs by building more manufacturing plants in the US and making some medications more accessible in direct-to-consumer programs, to win back public goodwill.

US healthcare workers don’t feel appreciated, and many are considering leaving their current place of employment, according to a recent Harris Poll survey. Some frontline healthcare workers will jump from one hospital or medical clinic to another, but others will leave the industry outright. Provider organizations must proactively invest in developing their employees by offering education and career advancement opportunities, and committing to workplace safety amid rising violence against healthcare workers.

Clinicians and staff adopt “shadow AI” tools to move faster, exposing gaps in hospital AI strategy.

Clinicians at Banner Health hospital system are already using Claude; 85% reported faster work with higher accuracy, per Anthropic. Other customers include Stanford Health Care and Elation Health.

Health systems and health insurers are at risk of losing business due to the new law, but have an opportunity to proactively support patients through upcoming changes to Medicaid coverage.

AI scribe tools that transcribe doctors’ notes save doctors only a minimal amount of time, according to a recent UCLA Health study. Healthcare AI scribe developers already face high provider churn due to a crowded market and the ease of switching between competing products. They must now prove their product's value extends beyond time savings (modest or significant) to include areas like improving patient care, enhancing the patient experience to drive retention, or ensuring more accurate clinical notes for billing and coding.

AI was everywhere at CES 2026, from robots to toilets and toys. The race to define the next computing interface is on, agentic ad tech is emerging, and health wearables are pushing further into physiological data. Best in show: Lego’s Smart Brick.

As a result, the category has the potential to attract advertisers looking to reach health-conscious, goal-oriented consumers across apparel, nutrition, consumer packaged goods (CPG), consumer electronics, and financial services.

Its new ChatGPT for Healthcare aims to win over physicians and health systems with HIPAA-safe, evidence-based tools.

EHR giant Epic is being sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who alleges the company blocks competition and restricts access to patient health data. The lawsuit adds to recent public and private sector signals that call for hospitals and patients to have better access to health data. While Paxton might have political motives outside of the health tech realm the lawsuit’s outcome could open the market to more Big Tech and digital health/AI players to create solutions that strengthen consumers’ and providers’ ability to access and share medical data across entities.

Overall, patient behaviors stemming from skipped care and treatment will worsen people’s health and ultimately lead to more costly hospital care, driving up systemwide costs.

More than half (53%) of US physicians plan to significantly increase AI use over the next year, per a DHC Group and Sermo study in November. As physicians increasingly rely on AI for support, the information they encounter will be shaped by the quality of the science-based content that AI systems will surface.

Digital health tech funding continues to rebound in 2025, bolstered by AI deals. Funding reached $3.9 billion in Q3, already surpassing last year’s total, per PitchBook. AI is driving a new wave of digital health investment, and both healthcare systems and providers will feel pressure to adopt AI-assisted tool, not just experiment with them.

The news: The newly passed Trump federal budget slashes healthcare spending by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. The takeaway: The cascading effect of federal spending cuts to Medicaid and ACA is poised to reshape US healthcare with more uninsured patients, lower payments and higher costs for physicians and healthcare systems, rural hospital closings, and increased costs for insurers. We expect advanced cost-cutting measures and lobbying for concessions as the industry braces for the initial effects next year.

Alphabet subsidiary Verily is launching a free health app offering personalized guidance from clinicians. The Verily Me app will also have an AI agent to answer people’s health questions based on their medical records. Verily’s competitive advantage over bigger companies with brand-name is that it has clinician partners and access to some medical record data. The company should leverage its network of doctors to endorse Verily Me to their patients, using real-world examples to demonstrate the benefit of combining a person’s health history with a medical expert’s view for individualized guidance.