Stoltenberg Consulting's Health IT Industry Outlook Report identifies top IT trends impacting 2025 hospital purchasing decisions

Health IT executives prioritize resource optimization in response to new administration and associated funding changes.

Pittsburgh, April 2, 2025 -- According to the 12th annual Health IT Industry Outlook Report conducted by Stoltenberg Consulting, Inc. — a leading healthcare information technology consulting firm — resource strain remains a top concern as healthcare leaders navigate administration and related funding changes. "Retaining and budgeting for qualified IT resources" stands as the greatest IT operational challenge for hospitals and health systems in 2025, receiving 39% of survey responses.

Despite various investment priorities, hospital CIO focus on maximizing system ROI has intensified. "Getting the most out of existing IT purchases" hit an annual survey all-time high in IT-related financial goal prioritization — earning 62% of CIO votes.

"We're continuing to see the ripple effect from funding cuts impacting the full provider landscape — from community health centers to health systems across the country," Kaitlyn Nelson, Director of Account Solutions and Development, said. "As a result, healthcare facilities are actively seeking cost-effective support options to address resource gaps to maintain daily workflow and end-user needs, while driving greater value from IT systems."

To contend with ongoing workforce concerns, CIOs are emphasizing support optimization, as evidenced by multiple survey outcomes. "Clinician end-user education and knowledge transfer, including workflow optimization" earned the top CIO priority for stronger IT support at 50%, and "onboarding and/or lack of continuous technology training" ranked as the greatest IT related support frustration among end users at 35%.

"AI and machine learning" remains the leading HIT industry topic of the year. After garnering 32% of respondent votes in the previous survey, AI's influence continues to grow, receiving 46% of votes in 2025. Additionally, "cybersecurity, privacy, and risk management measures" (23%) is the No. 1 area in which hospitals are investing the most IT dollars in 2025.

Stoltenberg Consulting surveyed healthcare CIOs — all members of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) — through an exclusive access virtual survey. Participants represented a comprehensive spectrum of U.S. hospital facilities, including multi-hospital health systems, community hospitals, academic medical centers and ambulatory surgical facilities. This year's report features special segments on addressing organizational pain points with AI, as well as eliciting greater value from IT help desk programs.

About Stoltenberg Consulting

For 30 years, Stoltenberg Consulting – a Med Tech Solutions company – has exclusively served the healthcare industry by providing customizable EHR support solutions. FlexSourcing, Stoltenberg Consulting's three-time Best in KLAS Partial IT Outsourcing program, delivers a versatile, certified health IT support workforce — including Tier 1+ help desk services — that can scale up at any time. Averaging 15 years of experience, Stoltenberg analysts are skilled in both financial and clinical EHR systems with best practice expertise for Epic, Oracle Cerner, MEDITECH, NextGen, Veradigm (Allscripts), Altera and eClinicalWorks. To see how Stoltenberg simplifies healthcare technology, visit stoltenberg.com.

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Shana Tachikawa, Director of Communications

Stoltenberg Consulting

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MacKenzie Gonnelly, Content Manager

Stoltenberg Consulting

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