Deloitte’s 2026 U.S. Health Care Outlook urges providers to empower consumers via digital experiences and scale AI to modernize operations, but widespread fragmentation of health data complicates those ambitions, says Sam Lambson, VP, Data and Ecosystem at athenahealth. The report highlights that without interoperable networks, organizations face costly point-to-point integrations, limited data access, and inconsistent data quality that undermine AI model development, deployment and real-time clinical decision support.
Industry advocates argue network-based interoperability — shared data exchange architectures, standardized APIs and governance frameworks — can unlock richer, longitudinal patient data needed for predictive models, care coordination and value-based programs. Scaling AI depends on reliable, privacy-compliant data flows and common standards that reduce integration overhead, accelerate model validation, and enable operational automation across providers and payers.
