Business of medicine predictions for 2026, part one

In health care, it can feel as if everything is changing at once: new tools, new rules, new expectations from patients and payers. For physicians and practice administrators, the question is no longer whether change is coming, but which changes will truly matter inside their exam rooms and offices in 2026.

Across the country, business leaders in medicine are watching the same forces colliding. They see practices wrestling with documentation and data burdens, recruitment and retention challenges, and the pressure to meet access demands without burning out clinicians and staff. At the same time, they see enormous promise in smarter systems, tighter coordination with hospitals and payers, and better use of information that practices already collect every day.

This first story in our three-part forecast series pulls back the curtain on what those leaders are thinking. Rather than focusing on distant, abstract trends, they talk about the practical shifts they expect to affect daily operations: how work gets done, how teams are supported and how practices can stay resilient when the ground keeps moving. Their perspectives offer a road map for physician owners and administrators who want to prepare their organizations for the realities of the coming year.