What You Should Know:
– The 2025 healthcare landscape is marked by significant uncertainty due to evolving reimbursement models and shifting federal policies. Margin pressures are intensifying across the industry. However, healthcare organizations are responding by intensifying, not cutting, investments in Health Information Technology (HIT) professional services.
– A survey of 105 CIOs by KLAS Research revealed that the vast majority plan to maintain or increase spending on professional services over the next 12 months. Leaders recognize that technology is essential for both enabling patient care and driving efficiency, helping organizations achieve more with limited resources.
Top Investment Priorities: EHR, Security, and the Rise of AI
CIOs are leveraging professional services firms for a range of support, including strategic consulting, implementation assistance, staff augmentation, and managed services. This strategy provides the expertise and flexibility needed to sustain performance while executing strategic initiatives in the face of workforce shortages and competition for skilled talent.
The KLAS report reveals the top investment priorities for HIT professional services and consulting are:
- EHR Services: Remaining a core investment area, activities focus on implementations, upgrades, and optimizations to maximize operational and financial efficiency.
- Cybersecurity Services: This is still a major spending priority, though urgency has tempered slightly since the peak following the 2024 Change Healthcare incident. Firms are valued for their specialized expertise and cross-organizational experience to strengthen defenses.
- AI & Automation Services: This is an emerging strategic growth area fueled by the proliferation of generative AI solutions. CIOs are seeking advisory and governance support to ensure tangible ROI and value creation beyond common ambient speech use cases.
Mindshare and Partnership Strategy: Expertise Trumps Price
In selecting firms, CIOs place the greatest weight on reputation and relationships, often relying on peer recommendations or prior partnerships. They strongly prefer partners with specialized HIT expertise.
Impact Advisors was the firm most frequently identified by CIOs as top of mind for professional services. However, the market remains fragmented, with many respondents unsure which firms are best positioned to meet their needs. Other healthcare IT–focused firms—
such as Huron, Nordic, and Chartis—are also frequently mentioned, reflecting CIOs’ strong preference for partners with specialized HIT expertise.
Factors that drive successful, durable partnerships extend beyond cost and include:
- Communication and Transparency.
- Stakeholder Buy-in and Engagement.
- Preparedness and Planning.
CIOs emphasize that measurable ROI and value are ultimately more important than price alone.
The Influence of Federal Policy
The introduction of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in May 2025 heightened financial uncertainty, causing CIOs interviewed afterward to be somewhat more conservative in their professional services outlooks. Even with this shift, over 80% still expect their budgets to hold steady or grow, emphasizing the essential nature of this external expertise.
