Nearly 90% of healthcare organizations say modernization is essential: Survey

Nearly 90% of healthcare organizations say they must modernize operations to keep pace with mounting clinical, regulatory and financial pressures, according to a new survey of healthcare technology leaders.

The 2026 Leadership Pulse Survey from the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, conducted by RLDatix, found broad concern that fragmented technology systems and disconnected data environments are hindering organizational performance and, in some cases, creating patient safety risks.

Here are six key findings from the survey:

1. Respondents signaled that modernization is no longer optional. Nearly 90% said their operations must evolve to address rising complexity, and 80% identified interoperability as a baseline expectation for coordinated execution.
2. The survey also highlighted operational strain caused by what many leaders describe as tool sprawl. Seventy-six percent of respondents reported that managing too many point solutions makes operations more difficult. Some organizations said they operate more than 100 tools across the enterprise, including 10 to 20 systems dedicated to safety, compliance, provider management and patient experience.
3. More than three-quarters of respondents said working across multiple tools is central to their challenges. When issues stall during handoffs between systems and teams, they remain unresolved longer, increasing risk across safety, compliance, provider management and patient experience functions.
4. Interoperability is increasingly shaping technology decisions. Eighty percent of respondents said it is a top priority, and 74% said integration with existing systems, including the electronic health record, is a key factor in selecting future platforms. Leaders also are evaluating whether data can remain standardized and accessible during system transitions or downtime.
5. Financial pressures are influencing modernization strategies as well. Eighty-five percent of respondents cited budget constraints as the leading barrier to change. At the same time, 70% said reducing total cost of ownership is a key consideration in platform selection, and 31% said they are actively exploring vendor consolidation.
6. Rather than adding more systems, leaders are focusing on simplifying their environments by reducing coordination burden, retiring legacy platforms without losing historical records and strengthening accountability across workflows.

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