12th Annual Health IT Industry Outlook Report: Key Challenges and Priorities for Healthcare IT Leaders in 2025

The 12th annual Health IT Industry Outlook Report by Stoltenberg Consulting highlights key challenges and priorities for healthcare IT leaders regarding purchasing and funding in 2025. Resource strain is the top concern, with 39% of survey respondents citing difficulty in retaining and budgeting for qualified IT staff. Maximizing return on investment (ROI) from existing IT systems is also a major focus, with 62% of CIOs prioritizing this goal.

The press release on the survey stated, “To contend with ongoing workforce concerns, CIOs are emphasizing support optimization, as evidenced by multiple survey outcomes. ‘Clinician end-user education and knowledge transfer, including workflow optimization’ earned the top CIO priority for stronger IT support at 50%, and ‘onboarding and/or lack of continuous technology training’ ranked as the greatest IT related support frustration among end users at 35%.”

AI and machine learning are becoming increasingly influential in healthcare IT, 46% of respondents identified them as key topics, up from 32% the previous year. Furthermore, cybersecurity, privacy, and risk management are the top areas for IT investment in 2025, receiving 23% of CIO votes.

The survey, which included healthcare CIOs from various hospital types, provides insights into pain points like AI integration and optimizing IT help desk programs.