What are Health IT Execs Actually Investing In?

Becker's recently asked 67 hospital IT leaders about their top investments for 2025. Nearly all of them (94%) mentioned AI -- and over 75% ranked AI as their number-one priority. But amid this enthusiasm, only two leaders specifically highlighted safety and observability as key concerns. As healthcare rapidly adopts AI, it’s essential that hospitals choose solutions carefully, prioritizing tools that genuinely support clinical teams and improve patient care without creating new headaches.

To get clearer insights, we reviewed and categorized executives' responses to identify both their main investment focus and underlying motivations.

Here’s what hospitals are investing in this year:

• Ambient AI (23%): Passive, always-on AI tools that automatically capture data, like ambient scribes generating real-time notes during patient visits.

• AI Automation (15%): Tools automating operational tasks such as scheduling and resource management to reduce administrative burden.

• Clinical Decision Support & AI Diagnostics (12%): AI systems predicting clinical risks, aiding diagnoses, or providing real-time alerts -- like early warnings for sepsis.

• Telehealth, Virtual Care & Remote Monitoring (9%): Remote-care solutions, including telemedicine platforms and wearable health devices, helping clinicians manage patients remotely.

• Agentic AI & Chatbots (8%): Autonomous AI assistants handling tasks such as patient triage, referrals, and scheduling without continuous oversight.

• Revenue Cycle AI (6%): AI-driven automation improving billing accuracy, coding efficiency, and financial performance.
  

Other investments -- like AI NLP, Clinical Trials Matching, Robotic Automation, Cloud Infrastructure, and Smart Hospital technology -- were also mentioned, though less frequently.

What’s driving these AI investments?

• Reducing Staff Burnout (35%): Leaders want AI to ease administrative burdens and reduce repetitive tasks, allowing providers to focus more on patient care.

• Improving Patient Outcomes (18%): Using predictive analytics and real-time clinical support to deliver safer, higher-quality care.

• Increasing Patient Engagement & Access (14%): Making healthcare easier to navigate and more accessible through personalized digital tools and remote-care options.

• Enhancing Operational Efficiency & Cost Reduction (14%): Streamlining workflows, reducing redundancies, and cutting operational costs.

• Strengthening Infrastructure & Governance (7.5%): Investing in robust IT foundations like cloud computing, data security, and compliance.

• Optimizing Revenue (7.5%): Improving billing processes, claim accuracy, and financial outcomes.

• Driving Innovation (5%): Staying ahead by investing in emerging technologies and novel approaches.
  

AI has immense potential, but adopting it successfully requires thoughtful planning, clear goals, and careful measurement of outcomes. Excitement alone won’t deliver better patient care or less stress for clinicians -- these outcomes require deliberate, thoughtful implementation.

How CareChronicle Helps: We're creating a safety-first agentic framework for healthcare that will empower patients and streamline provider workflows. If you or your organization would like to learn more about AI observation, safety, governance, and visibility we can help

If you’re ready for AI solutions that genuinely support your team and improve patient care, connect with CareChronicle today. We’ll help you ensure every investment makes healthcare better -- for your patients and your providers.