Health IT + Digital Health + RCM Conference • Chicago, IL • Sept 30 – Oct 3, 2025
Each fall, Becker’s Health IT + Revenue Cycle + Digital Health Conference brings together the leaders shaping hospital and health system performance — CIOs, CFOs, CMIOs, CNIOs, chief digital officers, and revenue leaders. The 2025 event felt more grounded and forward-leaning: fewer pilots, more execution. Below are the sharpest, most telling moments revealing how technology, revenue, and innovation leaders are rewriting the rules of progress in healthcare.
Mic Drop: “AI is a tool that everybody needs to learn.”
Set the Stage: Stanford is shifting from AI specialist teams to enterprise-wide AI literacy with “AI Foundations / AI 101” available to all staff.
Mic Drop: “We’re very stingy with our data.”
Set the Stage: Treating data as strategic capital — asserting control over access, use, and value creation, including back-end commercialization.
Mic Drop: “Patients are coming with pretty robust AI questions.”
Set the Stage: Training clinicians and students to engage patients who bring AI-generated info into visits (e.g., ChatGPT-assisted differentials).
Mic Drop: Governance should enable speed — not “rubber-stamp” delays.
Set the Stage: With AI embedded everywhere, governance must be nimble and risk-based while ensuring proper validation.
Mic Drop: “Governance isn’t a brake; it’s a steering wheel.”
Set the Stage: Use governance to avoid shiny-object syndrome, prioritize high-value AI, and maintain momentum.
Mic Drop: Patient experience grade: “C-plus.”
Set the Stage: Access is improving, but healthcare still lags retail/banking on seamless digital experiences.
Mic Drop: “Don’t wait six hours for a cough.”
Set the Stage: Proactive SMS nudges direct low-acuity ED patients to faster, appropriate care next time.
Mic Drop: “It doesn’t matter if it’s a human or an agent if you don’t have appointments to give.”
Set the Stage: AI + access requires capacity redesign—scheduling, blocks, and operational workflows.
Mic Drop: “If you fail three times, you’re too much of a risk.”
Set the Stage: Tough anti-phishing policy (three strikes) amid massive email volumes to raise cyber awareness.
Mic Drop: “Is that vendor really ready for prime time?”
Set the Stage: Balancing clinical excitement with enterprise-grade cybersecurity maturity and standardization.
Mic Drop: “You can’t deploy AI without standardization.”
Set the Stage: Use near-term AI needs to drive consolidation, workflow change, and cultural alignment.
Mic Drop: “Going fast isn’t as important as going far.”
Set the Stage: Prioritize long-term, partner-driven strategy over quick wins in the AI era.
Mic Drop: “A lot of systems will pilot something to death.”
Set the Stage: Define KPIs up front; measure, decide, and move on — treating failure as learning within governance.
Mic Drop: “We had to spend millions on infrastructure.”
Set the Stage: Back-office systems and physical infrastructure are table stakes for digital innovation at scale.
Mic Drop: “The role of the CIO is to create the art of the possible. The role of the CFO is to bring a dose of reality.”
Set the Stage: CIO–CFO alignment turns competing priorities (innovation vs. fiscal discipline) into complementary strengths.
