Vizient State of the Industry Report: Healthcare Faces a Reset in 2026 and Beyond

Report highlights structural pressure, financial risk and opportunities for resilience

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rising costs, shifting demographics, evolving partnership trends and accelerating innovation are rapidly reshaping healthcare, a new Vizient^® report finds.

Foundational pressures — including affordability concerns, workforce shortages, capacity constraints and shifting payer dynamics — are intensifying, according to the report. In response, many healthcare organizations are demonstrating resilience, improving quality outcomes and laying the groundwork for new models of care and growth.

“Healthcare leaders are navigating a perfect storm of higher patient demand, greater complexity and higher costs,” said Byron Jobe, president and CEO, Vizient. “The current moment requires leadership that can deliberately guide their organizations through critical choices about where to invest, where to partner and how to redesign operating models so organizations can adjust course and sustain access, quality and performance.”

Five data-driven findings shaping healthcare in 2026

• The U.S. healthcare system is under structural pressure. Higher costs, rising complexity and persistent quality challenges are reshaping utilization and care delivery. Between 2019 and 2025, patient acuity increased by approximately 5%, yet mortality declined by one-third and hospital-acquired infections fell by more than 20%, according to an analysis of the Vizient Clinical Data Base — underscoring continued improvement despite rising strain.
• Financial sustainability is increasingly challenged. Demographic shifts, policy changes and innovation-driven cost growth are converging. A Vizient and Sg2 analysis projects that the 65+ population will drive the majority of hospital-based utilization growth by 2035 — including increases of 20% in inpatient discharges, 27% in emergency department visits and 34% in observation stays — shifting demand toward lower-margin care and intensifying pressure on already constrained hospital capacity.
• Cost pressures are evolving, not easing. Labor costs have stabilized at a higher baseline, while workforce shortages and rising drug, device and supply expenses continue to outpace reimbursement. Total direct expense per employed provider — which includes physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) — rose 6% between Q3 2023 and Q3 2025, according to an analysis by Kaufman Hall, a Vizient company. Organizations are adopting more sophisticated physician enterprise strategies, including expanding the use of APPs, who now account for more than 40% of employed providers.
• Market behavior is shifting. Economic uncertainty and capital constraints are accelerating a move toward strategic, vertical and ecosystem partnerships built around owned assets and targeted capabilities as organizations seek capital-light paths to growth and access. While overall healthcare M&A activity increased in 2025, hospital M&A declined, according to a Kaufman Hall analysis. Transactions that did occur often involved distressed assets, with deal revenue falling nearly half year-over-year and megadeals over $1 billion declining more than 60%.
• AI offers real potential to reduce waste and transform operations. A Vizient analysis projects U.S. healthcare AI investments will grow from $20 billion in 2025 to approximately $100 billion by 2030, but realizing value depends on redesigning workflows and operating models, not simply deploying tools.

“These dynamics require leaders to ensure that operational discipline, strategic investment and innovation move in concert — rather than as separate initiatives,” Jobe said.

Read Vizient’s new report, New margin math: The trends resetting healthcare’s financial foundation, and its companion analysis, Get ready for a reset: A playbook for running resilient health systems.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest provider-driven healthcare performance improvement company, provides solutions and services to more than two-thirds of the nation’s acute care providers and more than one-third of ambulatory providers. Vizient offers proprietary data and analytics to deliver unique clinical and operational insights and a contract portfolio representing $156 billion in annual purchasing volume enabling the delivery of cost-effective care. With its acquisition of Kaufman Hall in 2024, Vizient expanded its advisory services to help providers achieve financial, clinical and operational excellence. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Vizient has offices throughout the United States. Learn more at www.vizientinc.com.