Joey Wahler (Host): She is a world-renowned futurist and founder, and CEO of Future Today Strategy Group. So we're talking with Amy Webb about emerging healthcare trends.

Host: Amy Webb will be one of the keynote speakers at ACHE'S 2026, Congress on Healthcare Leadership, which takes place March 2nd through the 4th in Houston. To learn more and register, visit ache.org/congress. Welcome to the Healthcare Executive Podcast from the American College of Healthcare Executives, providing you with insightful commentary and developments in the world of healthcare leadership.

Joey Wahler (Host): To learn more, please visit ache.org. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Joey Wahler. Hi there, Amy. Welcome.

Amy Webb: Hi, Joey. How are you?

Host: Good, yourself?

Amy Webb: I'm good. I'm good. Thank you.

Host: Excellent. So first off, as a futurist, you of course have a unique perspective on changes happening in healthcare delivery. So from your 2025 research, what would you say are some important themes emerging regarding changes to healthcare delivery that leaders should be planning for? Which ones do you think will most impact health systems over the next few years?

Amy Webb: Sure. So I want to preface this by saying healthcare is a tough industry. I, in full disclosure, am married into a healthcare providing family. My husband's an optometrist, he's a third generation eye doctor, so I have I think, a good outside perspective on some of the challenges, that are being faced.

I also go to some of his events, so I hear some of the conversation. I say this with all of my love and respect, but I do think that the industry has been a little reticent to change and evolve. So I just want that as a backdrop before I offer some thoughts on some key, I think healthcare delivery themes coming out of last year that will continue to impact decisions going into the next couple of years. So the first has to do with decentralization. I was actually at the consumer electronic show, which you know, as CES, earlier in January. I haven't actually been to CES in several years, but I went this year and one big takeaway was the emergence of something called physical AI. So this is artificial intelligence that is part of hardware, so it's baked into all different types of devices, and a lot of those devices are specifically designed around healthcare and longevity. So this is sort of a step removed from a smartwatch or a smart ring.

We saw everything from smart sanitary pads for menstruation to hats that people wear to help them track their cognition, to some pretty sweeping changes happening at Samsung and it's approach to family health and family care, to help loved ones track each other, just using the phones that they have in their pockets and Samsung's ecosystem.

This is relevant because it creates a new intermediary between the patient and the healthcare provider, and certainly the system where that healthcare provider works. So a big theme going forward is decentralization. Healthcare delivery is moving away from clinics, from hospitals as the default center toward not just homes and sort of the on body experience, but, I think there's a shift to a whole bunch of different players out there who are making all different types of devices to collect biometric data. I just thought of another one, which I think is relevant. We Things makes a scale that you can, we have one. So you step on the scale barefoot and it's taking different, again, bio data. So not just your weight, but probable body fat and bone density and things like that. Now, anybody who's listening to this is going to say, who's a medical professional, is going to say, how accurate is like an at-home scale going to be compared to a hundred thousand dollars Dexa scanner that we have in our practice or something like that.

So, I get all of that. However, this is a no friction device, that is not that expensive, that anybody can have access to. So again, the big change that's coming is acute care to some degree, maybe the diagnosis of it, without necessarily needing to get into a healthcare practitioner's office, like a lot more family managed care, early stage diagnostics. It also introduces big technology companies as the intermediary in a way that they haven't before. So I think healthcare leaders are going to need to plan for on the one end of things, care orchestration across different physical sites, different virtual sites, certainly different digital platforms and financial models that are inclusive of all of that. On the other side of things though, this potentially represents a threat. So anyhow, big, I think big impact level. So I guess artificial intelligence again is, look, I know everybody's talking about AI, how can you not?

But artificial intelligence isn't just about efficiency in the back office. It's becoming more embedded in care coordination and operational decision-making. And I think probably everybody listening at this point has seen something already, whether that is using an AI assistant to help complete reports, or analytics tools to help predict staffing. In large hospital systems, AI's already being deployed to help with disposables, like the cotton swabs and, you know, band-aids, that category is called. Right? To help predict, the flow of that and what's going to be needed when.

So that's already in progress. What's changing is using AI tools, I think more thoroughly and effectively throughout the entire organization to do things like redesigning workflows, financial management, all other types of decision-making that happens throughout the entire supply chain.

Again, this is another pretty big impact level that will very likely separate operationally functioning care systems from those that aren't able to make the transition and they're not able to make the investment. The workforce is another big signal going into the coming year. You know, this is no big surprise to anybody.

There's not enough nurses. There's not enough doctors. There have been some regulatory and just like education logistics hurdles that are preventing people from taking on those degrees. So that creates a supply issue in the marketplace of professionals who are willing to come in to work in healthcare, and also what we know to be true over the next two years is immigration policies are preventing people from coming into the United States.

That creates a pretty big hole that's going to have to get filled because people need care. And this is happening at precisely the same time as we're seeing a pretty big leap in the capacity that robots can offer. And again, like by robot, I don't mean like an anthropomorphized, walking, talking, humanoid looking robot.

I'm talking more about service-based robots that look like boxes. You know, they, they don't look anything like a person, but can fulfill some of the duties that the workforce that is shrinking used to fulfill. And we're going to see more of that going forward. So on the one hand, that means helping with a stop gap in healthcare systems.

So that's a good thing. On the other hand, it means we're further discouraging people from going into those fields. So I could obviously keep going on all day, but I'll, I'll stop with these three.

Host: Well, you covered a lot of ground there, so we appreciate that. And so having said all that, which industries would you say outside of healthcare, are adapting best to rapid technological changes? And what lessons should healthcare leaders be paying attention to along those lines? For instance, any mistakes that you see healthcare repeating that other industry sectors have already learned from?

Amy Webb: At the moment, I see every industry struggling because one way to look at this is from my point of view, change is not happening fast. You go back a decade and see all of the changes that we are feeling today in progress, years and years ago. Coming back to my husband for just a moment, I've sat in on lots of meetings where I've watched smaller healthcare practices, but still, I've seen them just like rage against at the beginning, the transition to electronic medical records, just every reason in the book, not to make that change, you know, the entire world around you and this is probably going back, I guess, 20 years at this point, 15, 20 years.

The entire world around you is transitioning. Why not evolve, and make that change? Again, I, just bring this point up because my husband's practice was very, very early to make that transition and stayed more competitive. And I absolutely think provided better patient care as a result.

But I watched everybody else dig their heels in when I knew this was an inevitability. So why does raging against change, why is that even an option for anybody? And I, just bring up this point because I unfortunately see this attitude in healthcare more than in most other industries.

And I think some of that is for good reason. We don't want there to be a capricious, attitude towards health where everybody's changing their minds every five minutes about what's safe and what good care looks like. And you know, you want this to be more slow and steady. But again, the reality is that the world is changing around you.

Whether that is many, many more opportunities for home diagnostics or now Chat GPT, where people are seeking out medical advice and in some cases that advice is wrong and people are heeding it. The bottom line is that there's too much friction within healthcare in the United States, the system itself, even down to like going into your provider's office and being met with many, many forms, most of which are asking for the exact same information to be handwritten over and over and over again.

That level of friction doesn't exist outside of healthcare. So I would ask everybody listening to take a good hard look at where you are right now and what your plans are for the years ahead, and how you're going to make that transition because you will have to make it or you will be obviated out of the marketplace.

I mean, that's just the bottom line. And that's just like office related stuff. We're not even talking about more advanced technologies on the horizon to help improve care. The mistakes again that I see being made are lack of planning. I have yet to see a hospital system that has done meaningful scenario planning that's not just financial.

So over the next X number of years, and that X should not be a year that is like five or 10. It, it should be mapped to your capital expenditure cycle, the other ways that your organization runs. What does growth look like? What does better care look like? You know, the goals that your hospital system or your clinic system or whatever it is, your private practice, whatever it is you're trying to do, how do you ensure that when everything is changing? I don't see anybody doing meaningful strategic planning.

And as a result of that, everybody keeps waking up as though the latest development is new and novel and came outta nowhere.

Host: Well, I think all of us can relate to filling out too much paperwork at times in the doctor's office, that's for sure. Right. How about looking ahead three to five years as well as maybe 10 to 20 years? What developments do you believe will most challenge healthcare leadership assumptions and organizational strategy?

And do you think anything in particular feels inevitable regardless of policy or reimbursement shifts impacting a hospital's bottom line?

Amy Webb: I think I've addressed some of this. In the very near term I mean, look, everybody knows this, staffing is going to continue to be a problem. And I don't see a lot of movement to mitigate that. So either some change has to be made to get more human beings into the system so that they can adequately provide care, or there's going to have to be a transition that begins like yesterday, that is digitally focused, which means having more digital tools that are accessible, that are deployed to make up for the reduced number of people, helping others and working together in hospital systems and practices. I can't emphasize that enough. And the thing is, for years I've been hearing, hospital administrators bemoan the lack of people, like people just not willing to go into the field. You know, medical billing, there's just not enough people, okay. So then you have to pivot. So if we know that that's going to continue to be a problem, then what I would be doing right now is how do I resolve that issue using technology?

And the answer is, there may not be off the shelf products and tools to use. In fact, I know that there are not. You can however, build your own systems and tools that are smaller in scope that can help alleve some of the challenges that you're currently facing. And you can also do this to improve your bottom line anyways.

So those are near term. For some hospital systems, those are going to be opportunities. And for other ones, they're going to represent pressures. In the longer term, I think we have some assumptions around where drugs come from and relying on historical data to try to predict what health-related challenges people may be living with going forward.

I don't think most healthcare professionals saw GLP1s as a potential permanent shift or a semi-permanent shift in how people live. And for that reason, what that means for their overall health. This is where scenario planning comes in handy. I would look out over the next 10 to 15 years at the current rate of adoption of GLP1s and 2s, and then the GLP3s that are going to be coming to market, and that's just one class of drug.

There are so many others that are in development because of synthetic biology and the enormous amount of capital being poured into longevity. I would ask yourself, do you need the same number of beds 10 years from now, 20 years from now, does your footprint need to look pretty different than it does right now?

We don't know what the long-term impacts of those drugs are at the moment. It looks like the long-term impact on health is very positive. So is it plausible that distributed health becomes the norm five to 10 years from now because people are living different kinds of lives? It's really important to ask these questions that may not feel like table stakes right now when you're dealing with trying to keep the lights on or other soul crushing uncertainty that I know all of you are dealing with.

But if you continue to put off seriously doing this work, I assure you that the future is going to arrive and you are not going to be prepared, and it is going to make everything really challenging.

Host: Now you have an upcoming hot topic session at Congress, so that sounds very exciting. Can you give us a few highlights of what you'll be talking about there? You last spoke at Congress in 2023 presenting a perspective about the future, your specialty. So what's changed, if anything, since that time?

Amy Webb: Sure the world is constantly changing. We have a new administration in the United States, which has a very different approach to healthcare than the previous administration. There have been some pretty big strides made in not just artificial intelligence, but the interplay between AI and biology.

And AI and advanced sensors, because of some accelerations, again, robotics in different forms, are viable and will be coming to markets and at least in the enterprise in different ways. We also have geopolitical challenges that didn't exist two years ago, like what's currently happening in Venezuela, and in other parts of the world which challenge supply chains and travel among other things.

So I think that there have been quite a few changes since 2023, but the constant is planning is possible and it is possible to slow time down through rigorous analysis and sound strategy. And that's really going to be the focus, I think. While I will certainly offer some perspective on emerging technology and science, which I think is important, I'm going to spend a lot of my time with the group this year literally on strategy.

So where is the world going? Where do we believe value will be created? And then how as healthcare organizations, as hospitals, and as leaders, should you participate? So I'm going to answer those three questions and I'm going to challenge everybody there to go back and to start taking action immediately in some way.

Host: And speaking of taking action, you've done such a great job here of covering these different areas. But in summary here, Amy, if you had to point to one priority action or mindset shift, if you will, from your 2025 research that you think healthcare leaders should be most aware of going forward, what would it be?

Amy Webb: I think it has to do with something called reperception, which I should note, my background is economics and game theory, and reperception is about taking a look at the same data that everybody else is looking at, but looking at it with a fresh set of eyes. That is very important because right now, the healthcare industry in the United States, this is a tough time to be a hospital executive; between changing guidelines seemingly every week, from the government, to changing insurance and reimbursement and supply chain and all this stuff. This is a tough time and so, there may be a desire to continue to operate sort of business as usual, and just try to keep things going. Even though there's a lot of stress. It's precisely that moment in time when you feel like the ground is moving underneath you, that in order to steady yourself, you have to keep a sharp eye on the horizon and start making decisions about the best path to get there.

That's a tough thing to do. But it is essential during times of deep uncertainty. And, we are not likely to see a certain path or any true certainty anytime soon. There's just too many things that are in flux simultaneously.

Host: Well folks, we trust you are now more familiar with emerging healthcare trends. Amy, all sounds very exciting. Keep up all your great work and thanks so much again.

Amy Webb: Thank you.

Host: Amy Webb will be one of the keynote speakers at ACHE'S 2026 Congress on Healthcare Leadership, which takes place March 2nd through the 4th in Houston. To learn more and register, visit ache.org/congress.

And for more information, please do visit healthcareexecutive.org. Now, if you found this podcast helpful, please do share it on your social media. I'm Joey Wahler, and thanks so much again for being part of the Healthcare Executive Podcast from the American College of Healthcare Executives.