Navigating the Rapids of Healthcare Innovation

The Need for Agility in a Sea of Emerging Technologies

The healthcare technology landscape is evolving at a breathtaking pace. From telehealth and wearables to virtual reality and the ever-expanding applications of AI, the industry is in constant flux. This rapid innovation demands that healthcare leaders remain adaptable and open to change.

As Gretchen Brown, chief nursing information officer at Stanford Medicine, aptly put it during a HIMSS25 panel, "You have to be nimble, you have to be open…try not to look too far ahead but really be ready and adapt in the near future."

Agentic AI: Hype or Healthcare Hero?

While the HIMSS25 conference buzzed with talk of generative AI and ambient listening, agentic AI emerged as a dominant theme. This technology, capable of autonomous action and decision-making, holds the potential to revolutionize healthcare workflows.

By automating administrative tasks, agentic AI could free up clinicians to focus on patient care, a significant advantage over simply adding more prompts to already overflowing work queues. As Dr. David Rhew, global chief medical officer at Microsoft, explained, "The movement to agentic AI is going to create more value…We care about the outcomes. If there are tasks that could be automated and agentic AI can perform that, that's where the industry is going; that's what people want."

However, experts like Rebecca Mishuris, chief medical information officer at Mass General Brigham, caution that the industry needs to carefully consider the necessary safeguards for this powerful technology. "We don't quite understand it; we don't know how to monitor it," she warned.

Smart Hospital Rooms: Designing for the Future of Care

Remote care technologies are transforming hospital design. Valley Health System, for example, showcased their new 'smart' patient rooms at HIMSS25, complete with integrated telehealth capabilities, AI-driven fall prevention solutions, and digital door signs.

Crucially, Valley Health emphasized the importance of staff involvement in the design process. "We created a whole test lab…so staff could try out the technology and talk about how it interacted with their regular operations," explained Andrea Valtos, assistant vice president of information systems.

VR: A New Dimension in Mental Healthcare

Virtual reality is showing remarkable promise in mental healthcare, offering immersive environments for exposure therapy. Dr. Jo Ann Difede, director of the Virtual Reality Lab at Weill Cornell Medical College, highlighted VR's ability to engage multiple senses, crucial for processing trauma. "Our memories are not just verbal…tone of voice, textures, colors, smells, all of that gets lost in a verbal therapy session alone," she stated.

Strategic Decision-Making in a Technology-Driven World

The sheer abundance of new technologies can be overwhelming, but healthcare leaders must resist the urge to simply follow the hype. Mike Mosquito, president and CEO of HealthNovation, advises organizations to carefully assess their technological maturity before adopting new tools.

Ultimately, as Dr. Khan Siddiqui, CEO of HOPPR, reminds us, patient care should remain the central focus. "At the end of the day, all of us here are here because we are taking care of a patient," he emphasized. "So that has to be the top of the pyramid."