Survey Says: Collaboration, Connections, Validation, Networking, Industry Perspectives
Healthcare is at a pivotal crossroads, with several powerful forces driving its evolution in 2025 and beyond.
Technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence, telemedicine, and wearable health devices are transforming how care is delivered, making it more personalized and accessible. Meanwhile, the shift from fee-for-service to value-based care models is pushing for better patient outcomes at lower costs, emphasizing preventative care and long-term wellness. Demographic changes, such as an aging population, are also reshaping healthcare needs, driving demand for chronic disease management and elder care. As these forces converge, healthcare is moving toward more innovative, patient-centered, and sustainable solutions, but it requires a careful balance to manage challenges such as data security, workforce shortages, clinician burnout, and financial sustainability.
Against this backdrop, an exclusive group of Health IT Leaders gathered in New Orleans in early June for an inspirational and meaningful 48 hours. With everyone’s physiological needs met via the outstanding amenities, quality service, exceptional meals, and beautiful setting, the attendees were primed and ready to engage with one another to share ideas, best practices, and lessons learned.
“This event was great - one that I look forward to attending next year.”
“This was by far one of the best events I've attended!”
“Had a great time with this cohort - so much open dialogue.”
A dynamic opening panel explored what healthcare IT executives should prioritize as we advance through 2025, examining how they can leverage their unique position within their organizations to drive meaningful change and take advantage of the opportunities to position their organizations for success. Some highlights included:
Technology has transformed nearly every aspect of our lives—at home, at work, and in the health care setting. Today, new nursing technologies are transforming patient care and include a range of tools from predictive analytics and mobile robotic systems to AI and telehealth services. Expanding the use of technology in nursing holds great promise for the profession, offering benefits for both patients and providers alike. However, there is a tension between taking advantage of patient care technology while still tending to all of their patients’ needs, and nurses, an integral group of medical technology users, consider advancements in digital tools with some degree of skepticism.
The Healthcare IT Institute featured nursing informatics leaders who shared their experiences into the realities of using technology in the healthcare setting and provided valuable insights about the optimal way to deploy technology in order to gain buy-in and adoption from nurses. This was fortuitously followed by an exceptional presentation from presentation from Ochsner who detailed how focusing on partnering with and empowering nurses, collaborating more intentionally, and improving technology integration and support, IS initiatives can help nurses focus more on patient care, ultimately improving both job satisfaction and patient outcomes. This excellent discussion covered:
In 2024, 725 large healthcare data breaches (500+ records) were reported to the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), a slight 2.95% decrease from 2023, however, despite fewer breaches, 275 million healthcare records were exposed, representing a 63.5% increase from 2023. This means 82% of the U.S. population had their health data compromised in 2024.
Small wonder then that the various cybersecurity and risk management sessions were so well attended at the Institute and scored an average of 4.5 out of 5. From addressing third-party risk and vendor vulnerabilities, to lessons from healthcare data breaches and ransomware attacks, and discussions about identity protection, chaos engineering, and the human side of Security Operations Centers (SOCs), attendees explored all angles of this critical issue and walked away with a better sense of the solutions and who to call the next time a breach occurs. Thank you to our cybersecurity partners, Crowdstrike, Cynerio, Elisity, Fortified, Palo Alto, and Proofpoint for the amazing work they do and for providing such great insights and information.
Data. Digital Transformation. Artificial Intelligence. Analytics. Innovation. These are critical in healthcare. The most critical are the people. Having the right people in the right place and then leading these people to successful outcomes is the greatest challenge.
In the healthcare sector, labor costs are a significant and rising expense, accounting for a substantial portion of hospital budgets and overall healthcare spending, particularly for IT departments, which face very competitive labor markets, constantly vying for a limited pool of qualified and specialized talent. Moreover, with uncertain funding and reimbursement, teams need to be more flexible and able to scale up or down as needed. Attendees engaged in interactive discussions around strategic hiring approach to build the right team at the right cost deploying workforce flexibility to maximize meaningful work, productivity, impact, and culture.
Being a healthcare IT leader today means balancing innovation with improved patient care, enhanced operational efficiency, and security while navigating a rapidly evolving technological landscape. Beyond technical knowledge, being a healthcare IT executive today requires leadership skills and organizational savvy. Effective leaders also motivate and engage their teams, fostering a collaborative culture that encourages innovation and growth. By inspiring their teams and aligning technology efforts with organizational goals, health IT leaders can ensure long-term success in an evolving healthcare environment. The dynamic duo of speakers knocked it out of the park with their candid and authentic discussion about leadership, mentoring, team building, and out of the box approaches to engagement.
Vendor management is not new. However, it has evolved significantly, shifting from a primarily price-focused approach to a more strategic focus on quality, patient safety, data security, and long-term partnerships, with a significant influence from technological advancements, data analytics and AI, enabling better vendor evaluation and performance tracking, all while adhering to stringent regulatory compliance requirements like HIPAA.
We were lucky to be able to feature a unique panel, with perspectives from the healthcare CIO lens, the vendor lens, and the legal lens, who offered keen insights and strategies for approaching the relationship with vendors in order to drive more fruitful negotiations, effective contracts, and long-lasting mutually beneficial relationships.
“Always love to close with the physicians!”
What a way to close out the Healthcare IT Institute – a panel of physicians providing data, digital technology, and informatics perspectives on Integrating Technology and AI into Value-Based Care. Healthcare systems collect vast amounts of data on patients – demographic, clinical, medication, treatment, care plans, and more. Despite this wealth of information, payers and providers have very little insight into the daily lives of the patients and communities they serve. Enter Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology which can sift through vast amounts of data, offer meaningful insights, and offer a level of hyper-personalization needed for proactive patient engagement and care at the population level.
The panelists shared their experiences and provided in-depth analysis on how technology and artificial intelligence can, and will, significantly influence VBC and clinical care more broadly, and considered:
Some of the most promising AI applications in healthcare beyond diagnostics, such as in administration, RCM or patient engagement;
Key metrics executives should track to measure AI’s impact on patient outcomes and organizational efficiency
Frameworks or best practices healthcare organizations should adopt to govern AI ethically and responsibly, ensuring compliance and patient safety
Strategic partnerships or collaborations that are most critical to advancing AI innovation in healthcare while safeguarding financial sustainability
The role of AI in improving health equity and access to care across diverse patient populations
Lest anyone think it was all work and no play, both thoughtfully curated evenings at the Healthcare IT Institute, allowed attendees to relax, recalibrate, and re-engage. From a lively and competitive casino night to an off-site trip to the House of Blues, these experiences allowed leaders to get to know one another better and to build the kind of trust that will enable future collaboration and engagement.
We would like to thank the Advisory Committee, Speaker Faculty, Service Providers, and attending IT Executives for their enthusiasm and engagement, and for contributing to an unforgettable 2025 Healthcare IT Institute.
If you’d like to contribute your insights, ideas, or expertise to the 2026 agenda, reach out to Nas Panwar at npanwar@ipmievents.com.
The next Healthcare IT Institute will take place at the Fairmont Century Plaza, Los Angeles, CA from June 7th – 9th, 2026.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the intimate format, the thoughtfully curated vendor access, and, most of all, the opportunity to engage with such a distinguished group of peers.”
“Loved this event, exceeded my expectations!”
“IPMI staff were outstanding and had thought of everything!”
“The most valuable and productive conferences I have attended. The right level of thought leaders for me to interact with and relevant topics.”
“The support staff was incredible! Highly organized, they never missed a beat! Well done everyone!”
“It was wonderful. Very well-run event and we were treated like gold. Felt very valued throughout the process and enjoyed the caliber of the speakers and their content.”
