January 22, 2026

What Healthcare Leaders Need to Know about Cybersecurity in 2026

Cybersecurity risks facing healthcare organizations in 2026 are increasingly tied to prolonged technology outages that directly disrupt patient care, according to John Riggi, national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association.

“I believe there needs to be an increased understanding that our increased dependency on network and internet connected technology and data to deliver care is creating an increased risk to care delivery, if and when that technology is suddenly not available for an extended period, such as during a ransomware attack,” Mr. Riggi said.

Recent attacks have shown that disruptions can last weeks, not days.

“Unfortunately, hundreds of ransomware attacks against hospitals and our mission critical third parties have shown us that we need to be prepared to deliver safe and quality care for 30 days or longer without the benefit of connected technology,” he said.

Becker’s spoke to Mr. Riggi about the biggest cybersecurity themes hospitals and health systems will face in 2026:

• Geo-political and nation-state risks
• Third-party attacks remain a major concern
• AI-driven attacks expected to increase
• Signs of progress

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January 20, 2026

The Biggest IT Risks Facing Health Systems in 2026

As health systems enter 2026, chief medical information officers say the biggest IT risks are operational, financial and clinical – and many are converging at once. From ransomware threats to unchecked AI adoption, CMIOs describe a landscape in which the margin for error is shrinking just as digital dependence deepens.

5 Risks CMIOs say health systems should be watching for:

• Cybersecurity threats are expanding and getting harder to contain.
• AI is moving faster than governance structures.
• Costs are colliding with constrained resources.
• Poorly integrated tools are fueling workforce fatigue.
• Data integrity and interoperability gaps remain unresolved.

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January 16, 2026

eBook: Where Progress Meets Purpose: How 3 Systems Turned Data into Outcomes

Rising costs, fragmented systems and performance pressures are pushing hospitals to their limits. But some health systems are turning that pressure into progress – using trusted data and cross-functional collaboration to drive measurable improvement. For nearly twenty years, health Catalyst has worked alongside healthcare organizations to tackle the toughest challenges they face. We’ve seen what works, what doesn’t, and what it takes to turn your vision into massive measurable, data-informed healthcare improvement.

This eBook distills strategies from leading health systems into a clear playbook for driving clinical, operational and financial results. From cutting sepsis mortality to automating population health outreach, these organizations show what’s possible when data drives action, not just insight.

You’ll learn about:

• Proven frameworks that help teams cut through complexity and act decisively.
• How technology and services work together to solve your unique use cases.
• Real-world use cases showing how outcomes deliver lasting impact, including a 20% analytics capacity gain and a 23% relative drop in sepsis mortality.

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January 9, 2026

Whitepaper: How Orthopedic + MSK Practices are Optimizing Coding and Improving Cash Flow

Orthopedic and musculoskeletal (MSK) practices are entering a new era of revenue cycle pressure – one defined by coding complexity, chronic staffing shortages, and rapidly shifting payer requirements. These forces are converging to create a perfect storm: rising denial rates, widening reimbursement delays, and growing strain on already over-extended coding teams.

This new report highlights how orthopedic and MSK groups are turning to technology to boost accuracy, improve cash flow, and build more resilient coding operations.

Learn from orthopedic practices that are seeing results – including:

• A reduction in claim lag from 7 – 10 days to just 2-3 days,
• A 50% – 100% increase in coder productivity with AI-enabled workflows, and
• Reduced overhead with up to a 30% drop in coding headcount.

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January 9, 2026

Whitepaper: Why Credentialing will Move from the Back Office to the Boardroom in 2026

Static credentialing can no longer keep up with regulatory complexity. As workforce and vendor access expand, periodic checks are no longer enough and hospitals are increasingly exposed.

In 2026, credentialing won’t be a checkbox. It will be a board-level issue, directly tied to operational stability, liability exposure, and even insurability.

This report outlines five predictions shaping the next era of credentialing and why continuous monitoring and AI-driven verification will soon become standard.

You’ll learn:

• Why insurers will start requiring credentialing programs as part of cyber coverage,
• How AI is exposing credential fraud and closing long-exploited access gaps, and
• What CFOs, CISOs and compliance leaders must align on to reduce risk and cost.

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January 7, 2026

Five Healthcare Policies Affecting Physicians in 2026

Several federal and state healthcare policies are taking effect in 2026, bringing major changes to the physician workforce, hospital operations, reimbursement, insurance and medical school.

• Affordable Care Act enhance subsidies expire: Enhanced premium tax credits expired December 31, leaving missions of marketplace enrollees facing higher premiums in 2026.
• CMS final physician fee schedule for 2026: CMS released its final rule for 2026 Medicare payments under the physician fee schedule.
• One Big Beautiful Bill Act: President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on July 4, which included historic cuts to Medicaid and other significant shifts to healthcare policy.
• Changes to prior authorization: starting in 2026, CMS will implement key provisions of the Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule to help modernize prior authorization and reduce administrative burden.
• Changes to visa restrictions and their impact on the workforce: Immigrants make up 27% of physicians and surgeons, 22% of nursing assistants and 16% of registered nurses in the U.S. Foreign physicians and clinicians are an important part of the healthcare workforce, often working in underserved and rural areas.

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January 5, 2026

Whitepaper: From Manual to Manageable: How AI and Partnerships are Transforming Urology RCM

Staffing shortages, rising denials and growing patient payment burdens are hitting urology practices especially hard – and outdated revenue cycle models are making things worse.

But a growing number of providers are taking a new approach to coding and revenue cycle management: pairing specialty-specific AI with expert coders to reduce denials, improve accounts receivable performance and relieve pressure on staff.

This whitepaper offers an overview of how practices are evolving their strategies to simplify workflows, improve accuracy and capture more revenue without overhauling everything at once.

Learnings Include:

• How some groups are achieving 98% clean-claims rates and 99% net collections,
• The impact of AI-assisted coding tuned for urology workflows, and
• Best practices to cut denial rates by half and reduce manual rework.

Click Here t0 Download this Whitepaper