The healthcare sector has always been an ever-evolving landscape of innovation, and nimble to regulatory changes. But the past year was more dynamic than many have ever experienced. We witnessed landmark policies, such as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act; the creation of the Health Tech Ecosystem; and novel voluntary agreements made by leading healthcare organizations to enhance care delivery for Americans.
HLC members recently gathered in Washington for our first membership meeting of 2026 and heard from Administration officials (like Stephanie Carlton, Amy Gleason, and John Brooks) and policymakers about their plans for building on this momentum and hopes for further healthcare enhancements.
Following this meeting, we connected with several HLC members to hear their take on the most significant opportunities, challenges, and trends our sector will face this year.
David Banks, President & CEO, AdventHealth
“One of our key focus areas this year is on strengthening clinical excellence while redesigning care and experience around the real lives of the people we serve. At a time of rising expectations and consumer frustration, this work matters more than ever. Safe, high-quality outcomes are essential, but they’re not the finish line. As chronic conditions become more prevalent and health care needs become more complex, care must also be easier to access, simpler to navigate and more personal at every touchpoint.
“When people come to us for care, they’re placing a sacred trust in our hands. Our responsibility is to deliver excellent medicine without ever losing sight of the person in front of us. That’s how whole-person care becomes real — and how trust in health care is earned.”
Harry Totonis, Chairman & CEO, ConnectiveRx
“Direct‑to‑consumer pharmacy models are becoming a major force shaping 2026, giving pharma companies a more direct and transparent connection to patients. By reducing reliance on intermediaries, these models allow savings to flow straight to patients through reimagined pricing and affordability structures and also could provide stronger support services. The result is streamlined access, less administrative friction, and often improved utilization through more direct engagement.
“As DTC models mature, they’re turning years of talk about patient‑centricity into reality – removing friction, delivering easier access, possibly more meaningful savings, and deeper trust built through direct relationships rather than layers of intermediaries.”
Christina Zorn, Chief Administrative Officer, Mayo Clinic
“AI is accelerating our ability to find more cures, which is ultimately what matters most. We are using AI for earlier disease detection, connecting patients with rare and complex conditions to targeted therapies, and informing new research opportunities at unprecedented speed. It’s also a solution to workforce shortages and has brought joy for healthcare teams by automating routine tasks and synthesizing complex information so clinicians can spend more time with patients.
“To translate and scale this impact, AI must be built and implemented on data that is trusted and navigable so solutions can be embedded directly into clinical workflows. That shift requires a modernization of data architecture along with the marriage of innovation with responsible governance to earn trust and ensure safety and privacy. It is time for healthcare to run towards AI coupled with patient-first principles to turn insights into affordability and accessibility and mostly important more cures for patients.”
Barry Arbuckle, PhD, CEO, MemorialCare
“There is an escalation of a concerning trend that is eviscerating the only health insurance plan for America’s seniors that focuses on prevention, coordination of care, and integration of the entire healthcare team – Medicare Advantage. While a minority of players have stepped outside the guardrails, the current narrative and resulting dramatic program changes are being influenced by reports to Congress (and the media) that have been proven to be erroneous. We need transparency and accurate reporting to protect this crucial program for seniors.”
Michael J. Alkire, President & CEO, Premier, Inc.
“Healthcare is stepping into a moment where pressure and possibility are rising in tandem. As we look to the year ahead, we see AI-driven transformation accelerating across care delivery, payment innovation, and regulatory modernization, even as labor and supply costs continue to climb. At the same time, a growing emphasis on wellness and prevention is reshaping what patients expect and how providers must respond. These forces are intensifying competition and prompting a fundamental reimagining of how care is delivered in every community.
“For healthcare providers and organizations, incremental improvement is no longer enough — leaders must elevate performance now while laying the groundwork for a very different marketplace.
“For healthcare organizations, maintaining the status quo is no longer enough. Providers must deliver strong performance today while building systems that can adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape. Those who will lead the next era are the ones who turn disruption into purposeful redesign, using technology, collaboration and data‑driven insight to create care models that truly put patients first.”
Frank Harvey, Chief Executive Officer, Surescripts
“In 2026, we will innovate and collaborate, so instead of moving at the speed of paperwork, patients and clinicians will have technology that empowers them to move at the speed of care.
“Prior authorizations often impact a patient’s ability to access needed treatments. I predict that in 2026, we will see more prescribers adopt automated prior authorization technologies, leading to faster approvals—22-seconds or less—and a growing number of in-scope medications, meaning patients will have one less barrier to overcome and a greater ability to access their prescription therapy without delay.”
Wyatt Decker, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Physician Value-Based Care at UnitedHealth Group
“AI and advanced technology will shape health care more in 2026 than ever before. The real question isn’t whether this transformation will happen—it’s how responsibly and effectively we guide it. Our industry has an opportunity to harness these tools to make care simpler, more affordable, and more supportive for patients and providers alike. This year, we’ll begin to see real, scalable applications that set the tone for how we modernize health care for the decade ahead.
“At the same time, value‑based care will continue proving its worth. As chronic disease becomes even more prevalent, coordinated and preventive care models are no longer optional—they’re essential. We’ll see a stronger push to expand evidence‑based approaches that help us intervene earlier, manage disease more effectively, and improve outcomes while lowering costs.”
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With the year already moving full force ahead, our membership will leverage what we gathered from conversations with Administration leaders and policymakers at our first meeting. We are excited about the appetite for great collaboration between the public and private sectors.
There also continues to be interest in improving patient care delivery using emerging technologies. As HLC identified in our recent report, AI can transform every facet of the care continuum, but there are significant barriers to maximal adoption. Fortunately, policymakers have expressed openness to working with our membership to alleviate these hurdles, and responsibly unleash emerging technologies, as these can be incredibly valuable in combatting chronic disease, decreasing costs, and supporting access.
This year may be another of significant dynamism in healthcare policy. With our membership and policy priorities as our north star, we look forward to the work ahead on transforming access to patient-centered care; defining industry’s response to disruptive megatrends; and promoting private sector investment and ingenuity.
