What will 2026 look like for health tech?

From chatbots and scribes to deeper conversations about the lack of regulations and ethical concerns, it seems you can’t talk to anyone in healthcare without AI at least coming up in passing. Going into 2026, the story is likely to remain the same, health tech leaders told Healthcare Brew.

Experts spoke with us about their predictions and ideal plans for 2026.

These responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Nele Jessel, chief medical officer, Athenahealth

2026 will be the year the electronic health record (EHR) learns to think, shifting the conversation from interoperability to intelligence and driving more proactive care. We’ve made real progress on data access, but instead, we flooded physicians with too much of it. The real breakthrough coming next year is AI that synthesizes, not just searches. The EHR will stop being the enemy of the physician and start acting like a second mind, clearly telling the patient’s story instead of hiding information that really matters behind hundreds of tabs.

Jahangir Mohammed, founder and CEO, Twin Health

In 2026, employers, health plans, and hospital systems…will want interventions that meet people where they are, adapt to their unique biology, and consistently deliver better health at lower costs. Hyperpersonalized platforms powered by daily AI-driven guidance will become the new standard of care.

Leading organizations will incorporate AI digital twin technology into their health benefits to reduce the burden of metabolic disease. For the first time, we can deeply understand each individual’s unique biology and behavior at scale and give them simple daily guidance that works for their specific metabolism.

Shiv Rao, co-founder and CEO, Abridge

The healthcare industry is waking up to what’s possible when we reduce documentation burden, but the future holds so much more possibility. In 2026…we’re codeveloping real-time prior authorization to empower clinicians to address payer requirements during the visit—not days or weeks later.

The future is enterprise-grade AI that builds bridges across the entire healthcare ecosystem, including providers, payers, and patients.

Blake Walker, co-founder and CEO, Inbox Health

Reflecting back on this year, we saw debt removal from credit reports as a big threat to the financial wellness of healthcare providers. Without it being listed, patients may be empowered to skip payment on medical bills. This rule remains in flux, and we’ll see how it plays out in the courts in 2026. Still, AI remains the big what if. Smart, communicative tools that understand emotion and tone will win the day.