2026 Healthcare and Life Sciences Trends: What to Watch in AI Delivery, Medical Device Cybersecurity and Digital Therapeutics

Healthcare systems are under real pressure as patients seek faster access to care, clinicians manage heavier workloads, and hybrid care models continue to expand. New digital tools and devices are moving quickly from pilot use to daily practice, creating opportunities to improve efficiency and broaden access while also requiring careful attention to safety, validation, and trust.

As 2026 moves ahead, the Global Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice of the IEEE Standards Association has identified three trends that stand out for their impact on the delivery and security of care as well as the evolving ecosystem of medical‑grade digital therapeutics.

1. AI‑Driven Health Delivery and the Expansion of Virtual Triage: AI is becoming a prominent part of the first point of patient contact. When individuals call with symptoms or concerns, many health systems now use virtual AI‑driven bots to complete initial intake before escalating cases to clinicians. This approach is growing rapidly due to workforce shortages¹ and increased demand for remote and hybrid care. While AI triage can reduce bottlenecks, it also introduces challenges around proper escalation, validation, accuracy, and patient acceptance. Many patients feel frustrated when interacting with a non‑human system during moments of anxiety and are unsure whether the responses and feedback are accurate. How well do we know if the autonomous information relayed back to the patient is accurate and concise if the human intermediary is not in control of it?
   Agentic AI is also playing a growing role in administrative tasks such as billing, coding, and telehealth documentation. These tools may reduce clinician burden, but reported efficiency gains vary widely and often lack transparency around error rates. Ensuring reliability and accuracy will be essential as automation and the implementation of AI-driven health continues to grow.
2. Cybersecurity in Medical Devices and the Risks of Connected Care: If AI is reshaping how care is delivered, connectivity is reshaping where risk lives. As healthcare systems adopt more connected devices and hybrid care models, the cybersecurity attack surface grows significantly. Remote monitoring tools, data‑generating devices, and connected clinical systems all create new potential points of vulnerability. Older medical devices, some of which run on outdated software or lack modern connectivity standards, are the most vulnerable as they are difficult to secure and still widely used in clinical environments.
   Regulatory attention is intensifying globally, and investment in cybersecurity is expected to rise as organizations navigate evolving risks. AI adds another layer of complexity. While AI may support threat modeling in the future, the technology is still largely untested at scale and can introduce new vulnerabilities when embedded into operations. . Long‑term resilience will require stronger expectations for legacy device security, clearer governance strategies, and a better understanding of the role of system-wide integration in cyber defense.
3. Digital Prescription Therapeutics and the Growth of Medical‑Grade Mobile Health Apps: While healthcare apps are not new, the way digital therapeutics continue to multiply is shifting the landscape in a significant way. The healthcare app marketplace is dividing into general wellness apps and medically oriented apps designed for disease management, reimbursement pathways, and clinical support. As more app publishers enter the medical category, stronger technical and ethical guardrails and clinical regulation are needed. With hundreds of thousands of medical apps available globally, it is increasingly difficult for clinicians and patients to determine which ones are evidence‑based, safe, and trustworthy.
   To support quality and transparency, new evaluation frameworks are emerging to identify apps that demonstrate measurable clinical benefits, adhere to ethical practices, and meet technical expectations for privacy, safety and usability. The demand for trustworthy, medically validated digital tools — especially in areas such as mental health, chronic disease monitoring, and aging‑related conditions — is expected to rise substantially.

• IEEE Medical Device Cybersecurity Certification Program: For manufacturers looking to develop devices that align with the security of expectations of patients, the program offers a straightforward evaluation process with a clear definition of scope and test requirements specific to medical devices. The program helps manufacturers demonstrate conformity with the IEEE 2621™ standard, ensuring that their devices meet rigorous cybersecurity criteria. Certified devices are included in the IEEE Medical Device Registry, which assists with submission to regulatory bodies and meets FDA submission criteria.
• IEEE Global Standardized Medical Mobile Apps Assessment and Registry: While app store labels can create the impression of value they do not provide substantive evaluation, IEEE SA created its assessment and registry to evaluate medical apps using technical, ethical and clinical efficacy criteria developed by 35 multidisciplinary experts from 10 countries. Apps that meet the criteria receive an IEEE identifier and badge for achieving a position on the registry, providing transparency to stakeholders in search of trusted medical apps.Technical criteria address expectations for privacy, safety, usability, and accessibility. Ethical criteria supports impetus on data governance, patient consent, controls on the use of LLMS and AI responsible development and help differentiate therapeutic apps from general wellness offerings. Clinical efficacy criteria are grounded in statistical, evidence‑based practices accepted within the medical community.The IEEE Global Medical Mobile App Assessment and Registry is the only publicly accessible hub of medical apps that have been vetted on 140 points of criteria focused on clinical efficacy, technical soundness, and ethical design. The registry fills a gap left by app stores, regulatory processes, and commercially curated repositories by offering a neutral, consensus‑driven evaluation approach.The path forward for digital therapeutics will benefit from clear evidence standards, transparent evaluation frameworks, and communication that carefully distinguishes between clinical promise and regulatory status.

There is no question that AI‑enabled care delivery, cybersecurity resilience, and medically validated digital therapeutics will be central to healthcare’s evolution in 2026. By investing in these areas and supporting standards‑based approaches, the global healthcare ecosystem is better positioned to improve safety, expand access, and build long‑term trust.

IEEE SA’s Global Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice supports innovation for the global healthcare and life sciences ecosystem to develop solutions that enable sustainable access to quality care and improve overall wellness for all individuals. The practice consists of more than 1,500 multidisciplinary volunteer experts from 25 nations on six continents, all working together to advance practical, impactful solutions. We welcome your participation.

Learn More About IEEE SA’s Work in Healthcare and Life Sciences

¹ – A global healthcare worker shortage of at least ten million is expected by 2030 according to McKinsey Health Institute Heartbeat of health: Reimagining the healthcare workforce of the future