As healthcare organizations race to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and other advanced technologies, their underlying network infrastructure may not be able to meet these tools’ requirements. A new HIMSS Market Insights survey reveals the scope of this challenge: two in three healthcare leaders cite infrastructure limitations as a major barrier to achieving their care delivery goals.¹

This finding underscores a critical shift in healthcare IT. Infrastructure must transition from a background function to a strategic enabler of modern healthcare delivery.

This transformation is starkly evident in the contrast between healthcare organizations’ basic and emerging technology capabilities. While 88% of organizations surveyed report that their infrastructure fully supports electronic health records and 78% can handle patient portals, only 18% say they’re ready to deploy AI in care delivery.

“Healthcare organizations currently don’t have adequate infrastructure support for where care delivery technologies are headed,” said Jill Brewer, the HIMSS Market Insights lead in charge of the study. “They are going to need the right infrastructure in place to fully support these technologies.”

Such a reactive approach, however, is unsustainable. “This ends up hindering clinical decision making and negatively impacts patient experience and care delivery timing — the opposite of what you want in patient care,” she said.

Study reflects growing need for strategic partnerships

The research also reveals that strategic partnerships with technology vendors have become crucial for addressing critical infrastructure needs. Two-thirds of organizations report that legacy system integration issues and high upgrade costs are major barriers to IT infrastructure modernization, while 70% express security and compliance concerns.

“[Healthcare organizations] want a really nice symbiotic relationship with vendors so that they can decrease risks while also being successful with vendors’ technology and solutions,” Brewer noted. “However, if organizations’ infrastructure doesn’t support [advanced] technologies, they can’t realize the full impact of these tools.”

Indeed, network infrastructure scalability has emerged as a critical determinant of organizational success, revealing significant systemic challenges. Nearly a third of organizations struggle with scalability, indicating a fundamental mismatch between current architectures and growing demands. Interoperability limitations affecting almost half of organizations suggest widespread technology fragmentation. Most telling, however, is that 60% of respondents face expertise shortages. This indicates that technical complexity has outpaced workforce development, creating a human capital gap that technology alone cannot solve. These interconnected issues have transformed infrastructure limitations from technical problems into strategic barriers.

A path to future-proof network infrastructure

The path forward requires a significant shift from reactive to proactive infrastructure management. “[Organizations must] take a hard look at their priorities and find the best ways to utilize their budgets,” Brewer said. This means evaluating current infrastructure against future needs while building strategic partnerships that can foster sustainable growth.

As healthcare organizations continue to adopt new technologies, from AI to internet-connected devices, network infrastructure must be able to meet emerging technologies’ demands. Success will depend on building scalable, efficient systems that can effectively implement these solutions while maintaining performance and controlling costs. For many organizations, however, this transformation can’t wait; their future competitiveness depends on it.

Learn more about digital healthcare transformation at: https://enterprise.spectrum.com/solutions/industries/healthcare/digital-healthcare-transformation-insights.html

Reference

1.HIMSS Market Insights. January 2025. Bandwidth and Digital Infrastructure [research report]. This research was conducted among 50 U.S. healthcare executives and IT/technology leaders (managers and above). Spectrum Business was not identified as the research sponsor.