10 Healthcare Challenges to Solve in 2026

Soaring costs, clinician shortages, aging populations, ever-changing regulations, and the accelerating pace of technological change are just a few of the many challenges healthcare providers face. In this article, we’ll delve into the top 10 challenges and touch on the potential technology, process, and other solutions.

What Are the Biggest Challenges Facing Healthcare in 2026?

Among the biggest challenges healthcare providers face are improving patient outcomes, reducing costs, attracting and retaining key people, and protecting patient data. These and other challenges require multipronged solutions, uniting technology, process, and in some cases, policy changes that affect patients, frontline healthcare workers, IT staff, administrators, payers, and public health officials. The main goal: a healthcare ecosystem that frees clinicians to focus more on diagnosing and treating individual patients and less on administrative tasks.

10 Challenges the Healthcare Industry Faces

The 10 challenges outlined below are the ones most likely to impact the quality, efficacy, and efficiency of patient care.

1. Workforce shortages. The shortage of qualified doctors, nurses, and support staff is now the No. 1 industry challenge in the United States and other countries, according to the American Hospital Association, due to an aging workforce, clinician burnout, an aging population that includes more people with chronic conditions to treat, insufficient numbers of graduates from medical and nursing schools, and other factors. Limiting clinicians’ and other staffers’ time-consuming administrative burdens is one key to attracting and retaining talented people. Providers also need to develop, track, and enforce employee training and development programs not only to comply with regulatory requirements, but also to build a vibrant workforce amid the shortage of healthcare professionals. Providers can also attract and keep their key people by offering signing bonuses, flexible work schedules, remote work opportunities (in certain circumstances), and comprehensive mentorship programs.
2. Aging populations. Populations worldwide are getting older, particularly in developed countries. By 2030 all baby boomers—the largest single population segment—will be 65 or older, according to the United States Census, increasing the demand for chronic disease and elder care services and straining provider capacity. Healthcare costs tend to increase with age due to more frequent care appointments and surgeries and higher use of prescription medications. The growing need for in-home or mobile care requires solutions that let clinicians monitor patients remotely. Meantime, older people who travel frequently or have second homes often get healthcare from different providers in different locations, making it all the more important for clinicians to have access (with a patient’s permission) to patient data in unified EHRs, regardless of location.
3. Rising costs. Healthcare spending in developed countries continues to soar. In the US, which spends more on healthcare than any other nation, spending per capita rose 5.4% in 2023 to $14,432, according to a 2023 analysis of OECD data by researcher Peterson-KFF. Increases in Sweden (7.3%), Switzerland (7.1%), and the Netherlands (6.3%) were even higher. Only Germany, whose healthcare spending decreased 1.2% from 2022 to 2023, registered a decline.



Financially strapped providers worldwide, particularly in remote locations, are looking at multiple approaches to strengthen their bottom lines. Some are integrating their back-office systems to drive operational efficiency and make better financial, supply chain, HR, and other decisions. New kinds of clinical operations solutions, such as workload management and virtual care software, can help bolster financial stability by helping automate staff workflows. Tapping data in admission, transfer, and discharge systems can help hospitals identify ways to optimize facility capacity—for example, by identifying available spaces and the staff that will be needed if those beds are filled. Hospitals are also pursuing other cost-cutting measures, including shifting care to lower-cost settings, such as ambulatory surgical centers, and negotiating with payers for better reimbursement rates.

4. Health inequity. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines health equity as “the state in which everyone has a fair and just opportunity to attain their highest level of health.” The goal is to reduce or eliminate health disparities based on an individual’s location, income/wealth, education, race, access to transportation, insurance status, and other factors. Healthcare providers and public health managers aim to limit health disparities by enhancing access to care for underserved populations, enhancing health education and literacy, and promoting community-based interventions. Technology can play a big role. For example, telehealth capabilities enable patients in rural or other underserved areas to consult with clinicians over long distances. Public health officials can use AI-powered analytics to analyze disease patterns and help predict community outbreaks. Digital translation systems can support patients who don’t speak the native language.
5. Mental health crisis. About one in five US adults have sought mental health treatment, according to the US National Institute of Mental Health, and the demand for such services is growing due to an increase in social isolation, depression, and anxiety. Clinician workforce shortages make it difficult for all who need mental health care to receive timely, consistent, affordable services. EHRs that track behavioral data along with physical health data can help clinicians access and share that information with a patient’s entire case team. For example, these EHRs can support clinicians’ patient assessments with built-in behavioral health screening tools. By tracking a patient’s safety concerns and recommended precautions—even their location and activities—care teams can create personalized treatment plans and adhere to state mental health reporting regulations. Telehealth services can make mental health care available in under-resourced areas, enabling psychologists and therapists to perform frequent face-to-face check-ins. With remote patient monitoring solutions, those same clinicians can keep tabs on patients’ vital signs, which can help determine whether they’re taking their medications or experiencing side effects.
6. Data security. A May 2025 report from The HIPAA Journal, which has collected healthcare data breach statistics for 14 years, notes a clear upward trend in the number and size of such breaches. A downward trend in “improper disposal incidents and unauthorized access/disclosure incidents” has been more than offset by “a massive increase in hacking incidents and ransomware attacks,” the Journal reports.



Many legacy healthcare systems, including EHRs, are operating on dated technology, and providers are underinvesting in cybersecurity systems and expertise, according to industry experts, making them easy prey for sophisticated cybercriminals. It’s not enough to expect the industry to police itself. The US federal government is taking a more aggressive stance in requiring hospitals, health systems, and physician groups to implement cybersecurity safeguards. For example, the HIPAA Security Rule, established under the 1996 HIPAA legislation and finalized in 2003, defines administrative, physical, and technical safeguards that providers and vendors must follow to help protect electronic health information. These standards address the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, mitigate reasonably anticipated security threats, and promote workforce compliance. The consequences of violating HIPAA can range from financial penalties to criminal charges, depending on the nature of the violation and extent of harm caused.

The Department of Health and Human Services has released voluntary healthcare cybersecurity performance goals. Some lawmakers have called this voluntary program insufficient, while hospital advocacy groups say that mandatory rules, with accompanying financial penalties, can result in organizations having less money to spend on cyber defenses—and patient care. Providers are starting to move their EHR and other systems to cloud platforms whose data is encrypted and whose security vulnerabilities are patched autonomously. AI capabilities embedded into the latest cloud-based healthcare solutions help detect emerging threats and even respond to attacks in progress.

7. Digital transformation. As we’ve described above, a solution to many of healthcare's complex clinical, operational, and other challenges is to use the latest digital systems and tools. That starts with EHRs built on an open, cloud-based technology platform, one that takes advantage of rapid advances in AI. These advances require a data infrastructure that is robust and accurate to support the effectiveness and reliability of AI agents, which must be trained on high-quality, trustworthy data.



For example, AI-based digital assistants built into the latest EHRs use ambient listening to capture key elements of physician-patient conversations; automate manual tasks, such as lab orders and prescriptions; update the patient record with approved data; and deliver patient data and information about the latest health advances in easy-to-use dashboards—all without requiring the physician to input data during the appointment. Healthcare analysts are using machine learning–powered analytics tools to combine clinical, financial, and other data to determine the impact of treatments and stay on top of rising costs. Perhaps the most crucial digital transformation is the introduction of new interoperability capabilities, giving clinicians a comprehensive view of data (with permissions) across different types of life sciences and healthcare systems from multiple providers in multiple locations, helping them make more-informed care decisions and improve efficiency.

8. Public health readiness. Public health management is focused on protecting the health of community members through disease management, promotion of healthy habits, and other preventative measures. Population health managers use data analytics to identify health needs at the community level, while AI can be used to search public health knowledge repositories at massive scale to identify emerging threats.



For example, a data analytics tool could detect a cluster of health events—such as a high number of respiratory infection symptoms in a hospital or other care facility—and alert officials, potentially allowing for earlier detection of an emerging community health threat. System interoperability is essential because public health organizations need quick, barrier-free communications with other at-risk communities. Standards frameworks, including HL7 FHIR and TEFCA in the US and the EU’s European Health Data Space are a strong foundation, but achieving scalable interoperability requires rigorous data governance, regulatory alignment, and cybersecurity throughout the health ecosystem.

9. Regulatory complexity. Healthcare providers are struggling to keep up with new and stricter regulations governing patient privacy, pricing, cybersecurity, value-based care, health equity, accreditation, telehealth, and even environmental sustainability (more on that one below). Their legal and compliance teams need to track, review, and update their policies on all of the above, while shoring up their processes for educating relevant employees about new rules.
10. Climate impact. Environmental regulations and certifications are placing new pressures on providers. For example, the Joint Commission, a US-based nonprofit that accredits healthcare organizations based on patient safety and quality measures, has introduced a certification program that guides providers on ways they can reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and decrease waste. Some of the focus areas include increased use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring, transitioning to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, and placing a greater emphasis on recycling.

Solve More Challenges with Oracle Health EHR

Among the many capabilities of Oracle Health EHR*, it can assist in identifying needed tests to help keep groups of patients healthy, target those who need follow-up appointments in order to meet quality targets, and combine cleaned-up data from multiple providers. The EHR runs on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, enhancing the security of the sensitive health data it stores. It also includes AI capabilities that prep physicians with patient histories right before a visit, help physicians filter information that’s relevant to a specific illness, allow clinicians to navigate the EHR using plain language commands, and use ambient listening to “listen in” on physician-patient conversations and draft summaries for inclusion in the EHR.

Challenges in Healthcare FAQs

What is the most challenging part of working in healthcare?

Common challenges for healthcare workers include avoiding exposure to infectious diseases, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, and dealing with high-stress situations that can lead to burnout.

What is the most difficult challenge faced by hospitals today?

A typical person’s medical history is currently scattered across multiple EHRs, one for each of the individual’s providers over the years, making it difficult for care teams to access all the information they need to make informed and timely treatment decisions.

What is a major disrupter facing healthcare currently?

AI is a major industry disrupter, to the extent that it’s automating tasks such as scheduling patients, answering their basic questions, recording key elements of physician-patient conversations, ordering tests, reviewing charts, updating patient records, and coding and billing for services.

^{* This content is intended to outline Oracle’s general product direction. It is intended for information purposes only and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and it should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development, release, timing, and pricing of any features or functionality described for Oracle’s products may change and remains at the sole discretion of Oracle Corporation.}