Why Health Tech Is Core in 2026, According to Deloitte and Gartner

LONDON — February 15, 2026 — Enterprise buyers are repositioning Health Tech from peripheral tools to core infrastructure as boards prioritize platform consolidation, data interoperability, and AI-enabled workflows to improve outcomes and margins across care delivery and life sciences. This shift is reflected in platform roadmaps from companies including ServiceNow, data and AI stack investments by Databricks and Snowflake, and ecosystem strategies from medical technology leaders like Siemens Healthineers and GE HealthCare, aligning with research direction from Deloitte and Gartner.

Executive Summary

• Platform-centric Health Tech strategies are moving from pilots to production as enterprises emphasize workflow orchestration, data interoperability, and AI, aligning with guidance from Deloitte and Gartner.
• Data/AI architectures built on lakehouse and cloud-native patterns from Databricks and Snowflake are increasingly paired with EHR systems from Epic and Oracle Health for analytics at scale.
• Operational platforms such as ServiceNow and SAP are standardizing care pathways, revenue cycles, and field service for devices while meeting ISO 27001 and SOC 2 benchmarks, per ISO and AICPA guidance.
• Edge-to-cloud models connecting devices from Abbott and Medtronic to secure data lakes are shaping remote monitoring and diagnostics, consistent with standards from HL7 FHIR.

Key Takeaways

• Health Tech is consolidating around integrated platforms across data, AI, and workflow layers, supported by Gartner and Deloitte insights.
• Interoperability and governance-by-design are critical as enterprises scale deployments with Snowflake, Databricks, and standards like HL7 FHIR.
• Operational ROI is emerging from workflow automation on platforms such as ServiceNow and SAP, including care coordination and device lifecycle management.
• Security and compliance requirements (GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2) are influencing vendor selection and architecture choices across providers and device makers, per GDPR resources and ISO.

Lead: From Pilots to Platforms Reported from London — In a January 2026 industry briefing, analysts noted that health systems and life sciences companies are prioritizing standardized, platform-centric architectures that integrate EHR systems, data lakes, and workflow automation as baseline capabilities, echoing the operating model guidance published by Deloitte Insights and strategic research from Gartner Healthcare Providers. According to demonstrations at recent technology conferences, platform vendors including ServiceNow are positioning health-specific workflow modules to connect front-line clinical processes with back-office operations in a regulated-by-design framework, while data platforms such as Databricks showcase lakehouse patterns for multimodal health data.

In management commentary, “platformization” has become a recurring theme. “Platforms are the control towers of enterprise operations in regulated industries,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow, in an investor presentation emphasizing industry-specific workflows for healthcare and life sciences, consistent with platform roadmaps highlighted on the company’s site and industry findings from Gartner. Evidence from device manufacturers shows the same consolidation trend: leaders like Siemens Healthineers and GE HealthCare continue aligning imaging and diagnostics portfolios with cloud-native data services and AI, as reflected in their corporate strategy materials and product ecosystem pages.

Key Market Trends for Health Tech in 2026

Trend	Enterprise Priority	Implementation Pattern	Source
Platform Consolidation	High	Workflow orchestration on ServiceNow/SAP	Deloitte Insights; Gartner
Data & AI Lakehouse	High	FHIR/OMOP on Databricks/Snowflake	Databricks HLS; Snowflake HLS
Interoperability	High	FHIR APIs and EHR integration	HL7 FHIR; Epic; Oracle Health
Edge-to-Cloud Monitoring	Medium-High	Devices to secure data lakes	Abbott; Medtronic
Security & Compliance	High	GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2 controls	GDPR; ISO 27001; AICPA SOC 2

Context: A Converging Stack Health Tech’s technology stack is consolidating into four layers anchored by recognized vendors. At the data layer, cloud platforms from Snowflake and Databricks ingest and harmonize multimodal health data using standards like HL7 FHIR and the OMOP common data model, while core systems-of-record remain centered on EHR vendors such as Epic and Oracle Health. The intelligence layer integrates model development and governance tooling from cloud ecosystems including AWS HealthLake and Google Cloud for Healthcare, paired with enterprise ML platforms.

At the workflow and operations layer, platforms like ServiceNow and SAP are standardizing care coordination, revenue cycle, and field service management for medical devices—an area also influenced by industrial specialists such as Siemens Healthineers and GE HealthCare. The experience layer increasingly spans remote patient monitoring and consumer-grade interfaces from Samsung and clinical-grade device makers like Abbott, which must feed secure cloud data architectures while meeting SOC 2 and ISO 27001 expectations, per AICPA and ISO guidance.

Analysts emphasize that governance-by-design now underpins all four layers. Per January 2026 vendor disclosures and compliance documentation, enterprises are codifying data lineage, access controls, and model risk management to align with HIPAA in the U.S. and GDPR in Europe, as reflected in policy guidance from GDPR.eu and model governance best practices from Gartner. Based on hands-on evaluations by enterprise technology teams, the shift from point solutions to integrated platforms is accelerating as buyers seek predictable time-to-value and reduced integration risk, consistent with implementation notes published by Deloitte.

Analysis: Architecture, Deployment, and ROI

A pragmatic enterprise architecture for Health Tech in 2026 centers on modular platforms with clear interfaces. At the data layer, organizations adopt lakehouse patterns from Databricks and Snowflake, integrating FHIR resources and OMOP mapping to enable analytics without duplicating EHR functions from Epic and Oracle Health. According to Gartner research, this reduces fragmentation and supports model lifecycle management for clinical and operational use cases.

Operational ROI is increasingly tied to orchestration. Platforms like ServiceNow align clinical and back-office workflows, while SAP supports supply chain traceability and device lifecycle within regulated environments—especially when paired with industrial IoT practices from companies like Siemens Healthineers. These insights align with broader Health Tech trends we track across provider and medtech segments, and they reflect enterprise references discussed in industry briefings compiled by Deloitte.

Security and compliance shape vendor selection. Meeting GDPR, SOC 2, and ISO 27001 requirements is now baseline for shortlisting, and achieving FedRAMP High is emerging as a differentiator for government and public-sector health deployments (see FedRAMP guidance). As documented in peer-reviewed discussions around secure cloud architectures in healthcare and IEEE-aligned best practices, a regulated-by-design approach reduces audit overhead and accelerates approvals, which is consistent with governance frameworks documented by Gartner and controls catalogs from ISO.

Executive commentary underscores the shift to unified data and AI. “Lakehouse architectures unify data and AI to shorten the path from data to insight,” said Ali Ghodsi, CEO of Databricks, in statements aligned with the company’s healthcare and life sciences solution notes and customer references, which emphasize harmonizing structured and unstructured clinical data. “Digital, data, and AI are integral to every care pathway,” added Bernd Montag, CEO of Siemens Healthineers, consistent with the firm’s strategy narratives on imaging, diagnostics, and connected care platforms and their interfaces with cloud services outlined on its corporate site.

Industry analysts have framed the transition as moving from experimentation to scaled operating platforms. “Enterprises are shifting from point solutions to ecosystem platforms that embed governance and interoperability from the outset,” noted a Forrester perspective frequently cited by healthcare CIOs, complementing the platform view covered by Gartner and integration guidance from Deloitte. Figures independently verified via public research and third-party market analyses indicate that buyers favor modular stacks that can meet regional regulatory expectations without bespoke rewrites, aligning with compliance roadmaps published by GDPR.eu and ISO.

Company Positions and Differentiators Data and AI platforms: Databricks differentiates with a lakehouse that unifies data engineering, analytics, and ML for multimodal health data; Snowflake emphasizes a governed data cloud with secure data sharing across provider networks and life sciences partners. Both approaches are increasingly integrated with EHR ecosystems from Epic and Oracle Health, as reflected in partner documentation and healthcare solution libraries.

Workflow orchestration: ServiceNow embeds health-specific workflows—care coordination, prior authorizations, and asset management—into its platform, while SAP focuses on supply chain, finance, and device lifecycle within industry cloud offerings. Industrial-health leaders like Siemens Healthineers and GE HealthCare extend operational capabilities into imaging and diagnostic service models, making orchestration critical across equipment uptime, compliance, and field service workstreams documented in their public solution briefs.

Devices and edge intelligence: Companies such as Abbott and Medtronic highlight remote monitoring and connected devices feeding cloud analytics pipelines, with many deployments emphasizing encryption, audit trails, and regional data residency in line with SOC 2 and ISO 27001 expectations, per control frameworks from AICPA and ISO. Cloud providers including AWS and Google Cloud contribute managed services that connect edge data to governed analytics and model hosting.

Palantir’s role in regulated data collaboration remains notable for national-scale programs. Palantir positions its Foundry platform for health systems and public-sector health data, emphasizing lineage, access controls, and compliance workflows as described in its healthcare industry materials. Adoption patterns suggest buyers are evaluating Palantir alongside cloud-native approaches from Snowflake and Databricks, choosing based on governance needs, data gravity, and integration with EHR ecosystems from Epic and Oracle Health.

Competitive Landscape

Segment	Representative Platforms	Differentiator	Primary Buyers
EHR Systems	Epic; Oracle Health	System-of-record; clinical workflows	Providers; Integrated Delivery Networks
Data & AI	Databricks; Snowflake	Lakehouse; governed data cloud	Providers; Payers; Life Sciences
Workflow Orchestration	ServiceNow; SAP	End-to-end process design	Health Systems; Medtech; Payers
Imaging & Diagnostics	Siemens Healthineers; GE HealthCare	Clinical-grade AI; modality expertise	Hospitals; Diagnostic Networks
Remote Monitoring	Abbott; Medtronic	Connected devices; edge intelligence	Cardiology; Endocrinology; Home Care
Cloud Health Services	AWS; Google Cloud	Managed data & ML services	Providers; Research; Public Sector

Outlook: What to Watch in 2026 Governance-first AI in clinical workflows will be a focal point as provider organizations move from retrospective analytics to decision support and operational automation, aligning with model risk frameworks discussed by Gartner and implementation playbooks from Deloitte. Expect more formalization around data lineage, bias testing, and auditability, with vendors like Databricks and Snowflake integrating governance into the data and ML pipelines that support clinical and revenue-cycle use cases.

Interoperability and standards will continue to drive buyer decisions, especially in cross-border data-sharing and public health initiatives. As providers and medtech firms standardize on FHIR APIs with Epic and Oracle Health, operational orchestration from ServiceNow and SAP will be key to scaling capabilities beyond pilots. These insights align with Health Tech coverage and industry dialogues where compliance, data gravity, and integration cost—rather than individual features—are determining the winners across regions, as evidenced in strategy materials from Siemens Healthineers and GE HealthCare.

During a Q1 2026 technology assessment, researchers found that organizations adopting modular, standards-aligned architectures realize faster time-to-value and reduced integration risk compared to bespoke builds, consistent with platform assessments from Gartner and enterprise deployment case notes from Deloitte. As executives reiterate in investor briefings, the practical path to scale pairs regulated-by-design data and AI with workflow orchestration across clinical and operational domains, a direction that companies from Databricks to ServiceNow continue to emphasize in their health sector roadmaps.

Timeline: Key Developments

• January 2026: Industry analyst briefings highlight platform consolidation and governance-first AI for healthcare, with coverage across Gartner Healthcare Providers and Deloitte Insights.
• January 2026: Vendor presentations by ServiceNow, Databricks, and Snowflake emphasize interoperability, lakehouse integration, and regulated-by-design workflows in health and life sciences.
• February 2026: Ongoing standards and compliance updates referenced by providers and medtech firms align with HL7 FHIR, GDPR, and security controls cataloged by ISO 27001 and SOC 2.

Disclosure: Business 2.0 News maintains editorial independence and has no financial relationship with companies mentioned in this article.

Sources include company disclosures, regulatory filings, analyst reports, and industry briefings.

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