What Becker’s Top Healthcare Themes Mean for IT Teams

We’re always on the lookout for industry-specific insights that help IT leaders stay one step ahead of the changes shaping healthcare. When we read Becker’s recent “Overheard at the 15th Annual Meeting: 5 Themes That Matter” recap, it echoed many of the trends we’re seeing play out across the systems we support. To help interpret what these themes could mean for IT organizations, we pulled in our own expert: Kenneth Bradberry, Anunta’s Field CTO and former healthcare technology leader.

What follows is a breakdown of each theme, along with our perspective on how they might impact IT leadership, management, and frontline teams alike — and a few words of strategic advice from Kenneth to help guide the way forward.

1. Urgency Eclipses Aspiration

Becker’s Take:
Transformation isn’t a distant goal anymore. Health systems are restructuring, consolidating, and acting on change with urgency — not long-term aspiration.

IT Implications:

• Strategic IT Leadership: Plans must flex fast. IT leaders need to deliver immediate value while aligning with real-time organizational shifts.
• Middle Management: Focus on initiatives that enable organizational change quickly — infrastructure consolidation, accelerated onboarding, and automation.
• Frontline IT Teams: Expect rapid shifts in priorities and compressed timelines. Agility, communication, and documentation will be key.

Expert Perspective:
“When urgency replaces aspiration, IT can’t afford to wait for perfect conditions. Leaders need architectures and partnerships that let them move fast and stay resilient.”
— Kenneth Bradberry, Field CTO, Anunta

2. Cutting Across Categories

Becker’s Take:
Financial strain isn’t coming from one place — it’s everywhere: research cuts, reimbursement challenges, inflation, and global instability.

IT Implications:

• Strategic IT Leadership: Move beyond one-variable budgeting. Take a total cost-of-ownership approach that accounts for economic complexity.
• Middle Management: Align budgets with enterprise-wide outcomes. Understand what delivers lasting ROI — and what needs to go.
• Frontline IT Teams: Efficiency pressures will grow. Look for ways to streamline, automate, and eliminate waste in daily operations.

Expert Perspective:
“Cost pressure used to mean cutting a tool or a vendor. Today, it means rethinking the entire model. IT needs to shift from cost-center thinking to strategic enablement.”
— Kenneth Bradberry, Field CTO, Anunta

3. Rapid Acceleration of Cancer Care

Becker’s Take:
AI and precision medicine are transforming oncology. Scientific progress is outpacing financial models — but the momentum is unstoppable.

IT Implications:

• Strategic IT Leadership: Prepare for AI workloads and big data needs. Oncology will push demands for scale, speed, and interoperability.
• Middle Management: Get ahead of compliance and access requirements. Partner closely with research teams to anticipate tech needs.
• Frontline IT Teams: Supporting cancer innovation means managing high-performance compute environments and ensuring system reliability.

4. Tradeoffs Abound

Becker’s Take:
Health systems are narrowing their focus. Tradeoffs aren’t failures — they’re signs of strategic maturity.

IT Implications:

• Strategic IT Leadership: Define what’s core and what can be streamlined or outsourced. Invest where it matters most.
• Middle Management: Lead with data. Help stakeholders weigh opportunity costs and understand the impact of every yes and no.
• Frontline IT Teams: Some projects will be paused or phased out. Stay centered on the systems that power critical operations.

Expert Perspective:

“Sustainable IT isn’t about doing everything — it’s about doing the right things well. That means knowing what to automate, what to outsource, and where to focus your best talent.”
— Kenneth Bradberry, Field CTO, Anunta

5. Back to Basics

Becker’s Take:
Even in an AI-driven world, healthcare is still a human business. Relationship-building and emotional intelligence remain essential.

IT Implications:

• Strategic IT Leadership: Build a people-first culture. Strong tech teams are built on trust, empathy, and clarity — not just tools.
• Middle Management: Support your teams through change. Communication and recognition will matter more than ever.
• Frontline IT Teams: Lead with empathy in every ticket or user interaction. Great service is still a differentiator.

So, What’s Next?

These aren’t abstract leadership themes — they’re daily realities for IT organizations in healthcare. We’re seeing smart teams respond with flexibility, focus, and a renewed sense of service. And while the pressure is high, the opportunity to lead through complexity has never been greater.

Curious how others are navigating this shift? Here’s how one digital healthcare company cut IT costs by 14% and streamlined asset recovery across 9,000+ endpoints — during a period of rapid change:
👉 Read the case study