The current state of IT infrastructure in US healthcare organizations

As of now, the IT infrastructure of US healthcare organizations combines electronic health records, laboratory systems, image repositories, and patient portals. At the same time, their interoperability remains uneven. According to ONC data, in 2025, 76% of non-federal acute-care hospitals were capable of all four types of data exchange. These include data sending, receiving, retrieving, and integrating.

The prevalence of information integration remained stable compared to 2023. This highlights the importance of assessing how data flows between systems within healthcare software. A healthcare facility's infrastructure maturity means its ability to easily access information, deliver reliable service, and develop digital processes.

Cybersecurity and ransomware threats facing US healthcare organizations

Ransomware poses a threat to healthcare facilities, potentially resulting in loss of access to systems, data theft, and operational disruptions. Attacks can also have ripple effects through shared service providers.

According to the HHS, in July 2025, Change Healthcare reported that the 2024 attack affected approximately 192.7 million people. Therefore, security measures must cover employee access, external connections, and dependencies on contractors. In terms of healthcare app development, this means that security mechanisms must be considered first.

Multi-factor authentication, network segmentation, and control of privileged accounts help limit compromise. Additionally, secure backups and a well-defined procedure for continuing medical operations are required while the team restores digital services.

Legacy systems and challenges in modernizing IT infrastructure in healthcare

The biggest challenge in healthcare legacy systems modernization is the dependency between software, equipment, and clinical processes. One component replacement may break down the transmission of lab results or access to a patient's medical history.

The 2026 HHS guidelines emphasize the importance of inventorying IT assets, addressing vulnerabilities, and following medical device manufacturers’ instructions. In practice, the update process should begin with a dependency map and the identification of unsupported systems. Next, a phased migration, compatibility testing, and a rollback plan are required. These are the core processes during healthcare software development. Migrated data should be verified in collaboration with healthcare professionals before the final transition of workflows.

Data integration and interoperability across healthcare systems

Interoperability means that healthcare systems can exchange medical information and then use it for work. The HL7 FHIR standard describes data structures and mechanisms for exchanging data via APIs, helping to integrate different applications. Proper integration also requires accurate patient matching, standardized test codes and units, and clearly defined access rules.

For example, a test result must be assigned to the correct patient record while preserving the date, source, and value. Therefore, integration projects need to include data quality checks, duplicate handling, error monitoring, and resending messages after a system failure.

Cloud adoption, scalability, and cost of IT infrastructure in healthcare

A cloud infrastructure allows increasing computing resources and storage based on workload. The economic impact here depends on the architecture and consumption controls. The budget typically includes storage, computing, data transfer, backup, and support.

Before migrating, the total cost of the cloud and on-premises options for a specific service must be compared. According to HHS guidance, when protected health information is handled in the cloud, HIPAA-covered organizations need a suitable BAA with the service provider. Additionally, there should be:

  • defined responsibilities for access and recovery,
  • security configurations,
  • established cost limits,
  • monitored resource usage.

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and the growing demand for computing infrastructure in healthcare

AI and the Big Data usage cause even higher demands for medical data storage, exchange, and processing. The ONC’s 2025 report states that 71% of surveyed non-federal acute-care hospitals used predictive AI integrated with electronic health records in 2024. That’s why there is so much attention to AI results monitoring.

Infrastructure requirements depend on the task: training large models may require GPUs; a pre-trained cloud model can be used via an API. It is necessary to plan for processing capacity, data availability, version control, and model monitoring. For clinical scenarios, it is also important to validate the quality of results using data from the specific facility.

IT talent shortages and the challenges of managing complex healthcare infrastructure

IT talent shortages make it difficult to support clinical systems, ensure data safety, and modernize healthcare infrastructure all at once. Healthcare organizations need experts who work with medical data and complex systems comprehensively – understand networks, cloud services, integrations, and how medical processes depend on the availability of technology.

When critical knowledge is concentrated in a single person, that person’s absence creates an operational risk. Documentation, interchangeability, operational automation, and training help mitigate this risk.

HHS also recommends continuously training employees to recognize cyber threats. When engaging an external team, it is important to:

  • designate those responsible for the systems,
  • establish an incident escalation procedure,
  • ensure the transfer of knowledge to internal specialists who will continue to maintain the infrastructure after the collaboration ends.

How US healthcare organizations can build a more resilient IT infrastructure by 2026

The resilience of healthcare IT infrastructure in 2026 should be built around a healthcare facility’s ability to continue operations even when any type of disruption appears. The first step to make is to map your systems and define which processes are critical, how quickly they must recover, and how much data loss is acceptable. This short audit helps you create a plan in case of unexpected technical issues.

Taking into account HHS recommendations, a practical plan should include:

  • multi-factor authentication,
  • network segmentation,
  • vulnerability management,
  • incident preparedness,
  • backup communication channels,
  • verification of recovery from backups,
  • procedures for operating without core digital services.

Regular drills with the IT team and medical staff will help determine whether technical procedures align with the needs of the departments and the responsibilities of employees.

Conclusion

The healthcare IT infrastructure development should be evaluated in terms of its impact on the facility’s operations: information accessibility, service continuity, and maintenance costs. A successful modernization plan begins with a specific constraint that hinders doctors, administrators, or patients. This allows for setting priorities and verifying the results of each phase before making further investments.