In healthcare, there is no shortage of challenges and technologies for CIOs and other IT leaders in hospitals and healthcare systems to address. 2025 will be a year of all kinds of changes and trends as healthcare and healthcare IT continue to evolve.
Russ Graney is the founder and CEO of Aidin, a care management platform provider. decided to leverage his expertise in health IT and ask him about the trends and technologies healthcare managers should be paying attention to in the next year.
He identified a “real” AI revolution, what he called the “great computing” of technology, and the emergence of care management technology as a supply chain driver.
Question: You are suggesting that the “real” AI revolution in healthcare will still be happening behind the scenes in 2025. Please expand on this point.
AND. The long-awaited AI revolution in healthcare has often focused on clinical advances – AI-based diagnostics, predictive analytics, and even AI “doctors” helping make life-or-death decisions.
But despite the hype, 2025 will be another year in which the true transformative power of AI will work quietly in the background, transforming the operational backbone of healthcare systems. This “real” AI revolution is not flashy, but it is fundamental and addresses the sophisticated operational challenges that underpin patient care and system performance.
Healthcare operations, unlike clinical decision-making, offer an immediate and measurable return on investment in implementing AI. Tools that automate error-prone administrative processes – such as managing payer-provider transactions or optimizing patient flows – are growing in popularity and delivering measurable results.
For example, systems such as St. Luke’s University Health Network is already using artificial intelligence to improve patient discharges to postoperative care centers. These tools eliminate manual inefficiencies, reducing delays and helping patients get the right care at the right time. Health systems that implement this technology will deliver smoother workflows, better patient outcomes, and will be better equipped to cope with increasing financial and operational pressures.
This serene revolution may lack the drama of artificial intelligence diagnosing occasional diseases, but it is no less effective. It enables health care to work better for everyone – patients, providers and payers – by addressing the systemic shortcomings that have long plagued the industry. In 2025, the true value of artificial intelligence will not be in transforming medicine, but in changing the mechanisms of care delivery.
Q: You say that 2025 will see a “big tech reckoning” in health care. What do you mean? What will be the consequences for hospitals and healthcare systems?
AND. Hospitals and health systems will face increasing pressure to re-evaluate their digital investments in 2025, which could be considered a “great tech bill.” This calculation is the result of two converging forces: the relentless demand for cost reductions and a fresh wave of forward-thinking leaders determined to modernize the healthcare business.
While digital transformation has been a buzzword in healthcare for years, 2025 will separate the winners from the rest as organizations will be forced to leverage technologies that deliver measurable results and abandon systems that don’t meet requirements.
This change will redefine how healthcare organizations approach technology. Hospitals will no longer tolerate tools that complicate workflows or do not demonstrate a clear return on investment. Instead, the focus will be on platforms that enable consistent, reportable and proficient processes across all departments – from care management to finance to compliance.
This means eliminating fragmented systems in favor of interoperable systems that reduce labor costs and enhance staff efficiency. The implications are significant: organizations that embrace this technology-enabled pragmatism will become stronger, more resilient and better prepared to meet future challenges.
This calculation presents both a challenge and an opportunity for hospitals and health systems. This is an opportunity to abandon archaic, underperforming technologies and invest in platforms that truly deliver operational and financial success.
Working with trusted, creative suppliers will be key, as will recognizing change management as a core competency. Ultimately, the massive tech face of 2025 will reward healthcare systems that prioritize agility, efficiency and impact.
Q. How do you predict that care management will become the lifeblood of the healthcare supply chain in 2025? How so?
AND. Long seen as a behind-the-scenes function, care management is poised to emerge in 2025 as the driving force behind the healthcare supply chain. Often underappreciated, these teams play a critical role in coordinating changes in patient care, securing necessary resources, and managing billions of dollars in annual expenses. However, their potential has been narrow by fragmented processes and unskilled workflows.
This will change soon.
In 2025, care management will have the opportunity to shift from its current hunt-and-peck approach to a market-driven model enabled by advanced technology. Platforms that facilitate real-time connections between care teams and high-quality providers will streamline patient transitions and reduce delays.
By using these tools, hospitals can achieve faster discharges, fewer readmissions, and shorter lengths of stay – key metrics that directly impact both patient outcomes and the bottom line. For example, incentivizing providers with clear, quality-based metrics will create a more competitive ecosystem that ensures patients receive the best possible care while reducing the administrative burden on care teams.
This transformation makes care management more than just a logistical function – it becomes the foundation of health care efficiency. Acting as the “supply chain” of patient care, these teams will ensure operational excellence and improve the overall patient experience. As healthcare systems embrace this change, care management will cement its rightful role as a strategic enabler of clinical and financial success in 2025 and beyond.