Last week’s HLTH 2025 conference in Las Vegas marked a definitive shift in the healthcare industry: AI has moved beyond the hype cycle and is now a core utility focused on execution, accountability, and measurable ROI. To understand the severity of this inflection point, we reached out to a diverse group of executives, medical leaders and technologists to synthesize the major themes, innovations and challenges witnessed at the show.
Their collective comments highlight that health systems are no longer interested in proofs of concept; They demand clinically validated solutions that seamlessly integrate intelligence into workflows, drive financial integrity, and deliver people-centered care, particularly in areas such as women’s health, behavioral support for GLP-1, and complex pediatric care.
Brigham Hyde, CEO and co-founder of Atropos Health
“The women’s health market has grown steadily and gained much-needed momentum in recent years. At HLTH, we saw a deeper focus on women’s health through the volume of conversations and innovations on the show floor, with founders and investors bringing new ideas on how to transform care delivery and generate personalized health insights for women. I believe we need to place greater emphasis on creating real-world evidence to close the existing evidence gap in women’s health, to enable providers to adequately care for more than half of the population, and to inform new treatments and clinical approaches.”
Dr. Amy Bucher, Lirio Behavior Director
“At HLTH (and more broadly), GLP-1 is dominating the conversation around adherence and patient well-being, and the topic itself was much more present in different types of presentations this year than in previous years. However, few vendors seemed to touch on GLP-1 in any meaningful way. Conversations held within my panel, and elsewhere at the conference, revealed that many people in the industry recognize that there is still much work to be done to support those who use GLP-1. “The healthcare industry still has a lot of room to grow in terms of helping patients comply with GLP-1, including providing them with behavioral support from the early days.”
Dr. Joy Bhosai, MD, MPH, Founder and CEO of Pluto Health
AI was front and center, and I think the biggest question that comes out of this is how will it demonstrate results and improve care to show a demonstrated ROI. As companies claim to become an indispensable resource for patients, providers, and payers, they will also need to double down on clinical validation, providing real-world evidence studies and clear measurements of efficiency, cost savings, and patient impact.
David Bates, CEO and co-founder of Linus Health
“At HLTH this year, we saw an increased focus on how AI can move beyond pilot projects and become the foundation of a new standard of care. The winners will be solutions that are validated, accessible and able to integrate into real clinical workflows. This is where the promise of AI-powered digital health becomes a reality for millions of patients.”
Charles Lee, MD, Senior Director of Clinical Knowledge, FDB (First Databank, Inc.)
“At HLTH this year, we saw an increased focus on educating and empowering patients at critical decision-making points through AI tools. One area that deserves attention is how we can reinforce a clearer patient understanding of their medications through concise and timely resources accessible to nurses and frontline team members directly at the bedside. Likewise, when patients leave the hospital, they feel safer, more confident and they are more likely to adhere to their treatment plan. We will continue to hear more about AI. “solutions that bring doctors and patients together in those first moments to build trust and lay the foundation for better health outcomes.”
Kem Graham, VP of Growth and Strategy, CliniComp
“A central message from this year’s HLTH conference was the healthcare industry’s rapid advancement toward AI-powered, real-time intelligence integrated directly into clinical workflows. With analytics tools now integrated into EHR systems, clinicians are making faster, more informed decisions based on standardized, reliable data. Leading healthcare systems no longer view data as a retrospective reporting function, but as a partner Proactive to drive better operational and patient outcomes. efficiency.”
Greg Miller, Vice President of Business Development at Carta Healthcare
“The most valuable conversations at HLTH25 focused on how health systems can trust their data enough to act on it. Automation and savings mean little without trust in data accuracy and transparency. What stood out to me most was the growing focus on intelligent automation that speeds up workflows, safeguards data integrity, and ultimately delivers measurable value for both physicians and executive leaders.
Oren Nissim, CEO and co-founder of Brook Health
“HLTH reinforced that always-on, AI-enabled care is here, but the real winners are those who make it human and effortless. When smart data and clinical knowledge are combined seamlessly and intuitively, patients interact like they do with any other native digital experience, building trust, empowerment and sustainable impact.”
Malcolm Fogarty, strategic advisor at Lindus Health
“At HLTH, AI has moved from a headline to a utility. The conversation has moved from experimentation to execution: how to incorporate intelligence into clinical trial design, recruitment, and data analysis to eliminate friction and human error. The next frontier is not more AI models; it is operational AI that is quietly making trials faster, safer, and more equitable”.
Heather Gray, Senior Vice President and General Manager of RWD and Clinical Trials at Omega Healthcare
“AI is transforming real-world data curation from a manual, retrospective process to a dynamic discovery engine driven by intelligence. By applying advanced models to capture, abstract and harmonize data from diverse sources, health systems, health technology companies and pharmaceutical companies are unlocking new levels of accuracy, speed and scalability. The real potential lies in how AI and machine learning can continuously validate, enrich and adapt data sets, with a human being. in the loop to ensure the highest levels of accuracy, turning fragmented information into a living ecosystem of knowledge. “This evolution is redefining how healthcare learns from its own experience, driving smarter decisions, faster innovation, and more equitable outcomes.”
David Pessis, Chief Product and Technology Officer, PointClickCare
“HLTH25 made it clear that the industry has moved beyond the hype phase of AI and has entered a new era of responsibility. The real innovation now lies in how responsibly trained models can turn fragmented clinical data into actionable intelligence that supports human decision-making. What caught my attention was the shared commitment across the ecosystem to use AI not only to automate, but also to elevate quality of care while allowing transparency to foster trust in the technology that guides it.”
Patricia Hayes, MD, Medical Director of Imagine Pediatrics
“What stood out to me at HLTH was a greater awareness of how much fragmentation has historically shaped healthcare and how that is changing, especially for children with special healthcare needs. We now have the interoperability infrastructures to do better, and more organizations are focused on connecting these systems to ensure they don’t remain disconnected. The future of pediatric care depends on bringing together health plans, clinicians, caregivers and data in a way that enables a proactive and personalized response that focuses on the child and the family’s lived experience. It is clear that integration is no longer optional and is what will allow us to truly improve results and experience significantly.”
Kim Perry, Chief Growth Officer, emtelligent
“This year marked a clear inflection point for AI in healthcare. Health systems are no longer just testing models; they are implementing solutions that improve workflows, revenue performance, and clinical outcomes. The industry is maturing and beginning to deliver on the promise of AI in daily operations.”
Patrick Lane, President of Health Gorilla
“At HLTH in Las Vegas, we continue an important conversation about patient consent and data sharing. Patients must decide who can access their data, for what purpose and for how long. The industry is moving toward more sophisticated consent frameworks that put patients in control, building trust and unlocking innovation across healthcare.”
Justin Schrager, MD, CMO and Co-Founder of Vital.io
“It’s very exciting to see Big Tech and health technology converge around agent systems and patient-facing AI at HLTH25. We have an incredible opportunity to get this right for patients as we design and implement what will be a generation-defining moment of democratization of health information.”
Julie Schulz, MD, MPH, Vice President of Product, Avalon Healthcare Solutions
“What really caught my attention at HLTH was how diagnostic intelligence is starting to drive real, scalable change in healthcare. As a public health-trained physician, it’s exciting to see data and diagnostics coming together to guide smarter, more sustainable care, helping us use therapies more effectively, reduce waste, and make the system work better for every patient.”
