In the ever-evolving world of healthcare IT, the issue of patching legacy systems continues to be a challenge for many organizations. However, according to industry expert Robert Connely, 2025 will mark a significant shift towards complete modernization of health IT.
Connely, the global industry market leader for healthcare at Pega, a leading vendor specializing in enterprise AI decision making and workflow automation, believes that healthcare provider organizations will move away from the traditional “wrap and renew” approach to legacy systems in favor of more targeted “reimagine and replace” strategies.
“The shift in 2025 from patching legacy systems to full modernization requires a fine balance,” Connely explained. “The goal is to empower organizations to address complex processes using technologies like AI, driving future value while minimizing the technical debt associated with maintaining legacy systems.”
This transformation, according to Connely, will involve breaking legacy systems into modular components and distributing them across different technology layers, allowing for greater flexibility and scalability. This approach, termed “rethink and replace,” leverages generative AI to design and automate new workflow improvements, accelerating time to value and reducing development efforts.
Furthermore, Connely predicts that the future of AI in healthcare will depend on overcoming security concerns, particularly around managing private patient data. He foresees a security breakthrough in 2025 that will address these issues through the adoption of private LLMs, vector databases, and targeted AI applications, enabling organizations to safely adopt AI while unlocking its potential value.
In terms of value-based care, Connely believes that AI will play a pivotal role in transforming it from a pilot initiative to the standard model across healthcare. By augmenting care management through AI-driven orchestration, education, and proactive intervention, health systems can address fragmented processes and improve patient outcomes while controlling costs.
Overall, Connely’s insights suggest that 2025 will be a year of significant transformation in healthcare IT, with a greater focus on modernization, security, and the integration of AI to drive value-based care as the industry standard. As organizations navigate these changes, it will be crucial to stay informed and adaptable to meet the evolving needs of the healthcare landscape.
