Technology is no longer a supporting function in healthcare—it’s a strategic foundation for care delivery, operational efficiency, and patient experience. Today, healthcare IT/OT is defined by integration, intelligence, and adaptability. From infrastructure planning to AI-powered diagnostics and remote care, the most forward-thinking organizations are designing systems that are secure, scalable, and future-ready.
Here are five key trends shaping the healthcare IT/OT landscape.
1. IT is foundational to healthcare design
Healthcare organizations are increasingly embedding IT professionals in the earliest stages of facility planning. This shift ensures that digital infrastructure—such as cabling, networking, and system interoperability—is aligned to meet clinical and operational needs. Early involvement helps avoid costly retrofits and enables smarter, more resilient environments.
Cybersecurity is a major concern: 92% of healthcare organizations were targeted by cyberattacks in the past year, and ransomware attacks led to an average of 19 days of downtime for U.S. hospitals. Between 2020 and 2025, the healthcare sector is expected to invest $125 billion in cybersecurity tools and services.
Accordingly, cybersecurity is now a design imperative. Building management systems (BMS), imaging platforms, and IoT devices must be evaluated for vulnerabilities before deployment. A real-world example involved a medical imaging system of a major 600+ bed university hospital. The system was equipped with data connections to offshore locations, which posed a national security risk. At the last moment, the system go-live was stopped by the hospital CISO, triggering a last-minute intervention and costly adjustments.
Designing for cyber resilience means incorporating microsegmentation, secure data pathways, and threat modeling into the earliest phases of infrastructure planning and ensuring compliance with not only regulations but also operational needs are factored in at the design stage.
2. Patient engagement platforms: Personalized and multi-functional
Patient Engagement Systems (PES) rely on seamless integration with operational and clinical systems, not to mention patient-owned devices. Modern inpatient rooms are being equipped with digital platforms that allow patients to control room settings, access health information, and communicate with care teams—all through a single interface. Critically, these systems are modular with open APIs that allow new functionality to be added without physical changes to wiring or IT equipment.
PES solutions are proving to be useful in a wide variety of situations with one major health system through 37 use cases. With 18 already deployed, the hospital undertook a survey to gauge patients’ and clinicians’ response to the technology. Patient satisfaction rated the system 4.7 out of 5, while clinicians gave it a 4.9—highlighting its dual value in enhancing care and streamlining workflows.
National trends reflect this momentum in PES. As of 2025, 89% of hospitals have implemented some form of digital patient engagement tools, and patients engaged show a 50% increase in self-monitoring behaviors. Additionally, 68% of consumers say they would switch providers for better digital engagement experiences.
These platforms are not just convenience tools—they’re catalysts for better outcomes, adherence, and satisfaction.
3. AI and digital twins: From reactive to predictive care
Artificial intelligence and digital twin technologies (i.e., a virtual representation of physical systems) are transforming healthcare operations in myriad ways. In one example, digital twins were used to track crash team response times, helping identify staffing gaps and improve emergency care. Another use case involved hallway displays that automatically update patient status by pulling data from electronic medical records, saving thousands of clinician hours annually.
According to a PwC analysis, a seismic shift is underway with $1 trillion in annual healthcare spending shifting from traditional care models and brick-and-mortar facilities toward “a digital-first, proactive and personalized system of care.” Digital twins are being deployed to optimize the physical environment and help personalize treatment plans. Generative AI is also enabling virtual clinical trials and paving the way for personalized medicine.
These technologies are helping healthcare systems shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive, data-driven decision-making.
4. Agile infrastructure: Building for what’s next
Rather than trying to predict the next wave of technology, healthcare systems are investing in adaptable infrastructure. As with the earlier patient room example, modular cabling, open APIs, and scalable platforms allow facilities to integrate novel solutions without major disruptions. In the case of retrofits, it’s essential to minimize disruption, so solutions that require less labor to integrate can reduce both labor costs and installation time simultaneously.
Building automation systems can also be leveraged in novel ways, for example to monitor the temperature of nutrition refrigerators across the hospital, something traditionally done by an additional isolated system or worse, by nurses whose time would be better served with patient care.
In building a new inpatient building, one hospital initially elected not to have any wall mounted clocks to reduce maintenance and rely on the time available through local computers. Soon after opening, clinicians realized the need for a clock with a second hand, especially for code blue responses. With a few lines of code, a developer added a digital clock with a second hand to the PES footwall screen. This saved the hospital $700,000 in wall clocks and the associated maintenance.
According to McKinsey, interoperable digital health systems could increase healthcare efficiency by up to 15% by 2030. Fiber optic infrastructure is being considered to support high-throughput data needs, though cost and converter availability remain challenges. Despite these hurdles, the shift toward flexible, future-proof systems is accelerating driven by financial as well as patient outcomes.
5. Evidence-based design and collaborative implementation
Designing healthcare spaces with evidence-based principles like intuitive layouts can improve outcomes and reduce operational friction. That applies to IT/OT systems as well. One example involved using hallway displays to automatically update patient info and clinical instructions, a simple change that saved 8,400 clinician hours annually.
Collaboration is key to successful implementation. Cross-functional teams—clinicians, IT, facilities, technology solution partners, and designers—must work together from a project’s inception. Frameworks like A3 decision protocols and choosing by advantage (CBA) help align priorities and foster shared ownership. Evidence-based design is not just about aesthetics—it’s about creating environments that support healing, safety, and operational excellence.
Healthcare IT/OT is about more than the technology itself, which after all is only a tool. The trends above demonstrate that the real objective is how patient experience and operational outcomes are intertwined. By embedding technology into the core of facility planning and fostering cross-disciplinary partnerships, healthcare organizations are creating secure, responsive, and ready environments. The most successful systems aren’t just reacting to change—they’re building for it.
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