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2025 is poised to be another significant year in the evolution of health and wellness delivery as digital technologies transform consumer and provider experiences alike. Artificial intelligence regularly grabs headlines for its many emerging and promising applications, like AI-assisted breast cancer screenings, as health leaders balance security and accuracy. But AI is just one of many forces at play.
Advancements in wearables, telehealth, and remote patient monitoring (RPM) mean consumers and providers have access to more data than ever before, driving a rise in holistic, personalized treatment recommendations — if the right health data management system and experience layers are in place.
These healthcare industry trends and more will reshape what digital health looks like in 2025, from AI’s behind-the-scenes accelerations of healthcare operations, to the rise of more robust mental health management platforms. At WillowTree, a TELUS Digital Company, we're excited to see these trends not only drive more connected and personalized care experiences, but also impact longstanding issues such as accessibility, affordability, and efficiency.
AI-powered personalization is transforming care delivery into a “whole person” health experience, one that integrates a consumer’s physical, mental, and even social health data to individualize their treatments.
There’s plenty for providers to be excited about, too. AI’s ability to personalize medical care will unlock new efficiencies for physicians, with the promise of spending more (sorely needed) time with patients and teaming more effectively across disciplines.
The following use cases show how AI-powered personalization is already impacting healthcare.
AI analyzes medical images, lab results, and patient symptoms to assist physicians in diagnosing disease more quickly and accurately, potentially transforming fields like radiology and pathology. So far, the FDA has approved more than 1,000 AI- and machine learning-enabled medical devices (with nearly 800 authorizations since 2020) for applications from dental X-rays to prostate screenings.
AI’s biggest impact on healthcare might be its ability to predict health issues before they become serious — a primary area of interest for health insurance companies seeking to prevent serious health conditions long before they occur.
By finding patterns in patient data, AI identifies individuals at high risk (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, eye diseases) to help care teams intervene earlier. An AI-powered shift toward preventive care could significantly reduce healthcare costs while improving patient outcomes — a win for all.
AI analyzes a patient’s health data, genetic information, lifestyle factors, and even social determinants of health (SDOH) to generate highly personalized care recommendations. This goes well beyond AI creating customized nutrition plans, exercise regimens, and medication dosings, too.
A great example is Endeavor Health, who used natural language processing (NLP) to address a 22-year life expectancy gap across its Chicagoland service population. By turning patients’ SDOH information (e.g., social isolation, food insecurity, transportation issues) into 14 categories of structured data, emergency department social workers switched from spending 80% of their time on chart review to creating personalized care plans, like making sure patients had transportation to their appointments.
“With a single diagnosis, care teams powered by AI can create comprehensive care plan recommendations specific to each patient’s unique needs. Doing this within a patient's digital experience, in real-time, provides the opportunity to show patients how the plan was crafted, building trust with AI and the care organization,” Alex Carr, Chief Design Officer at WillowTree says.
The time is right for AI to deliver these capabilities, too. CVS’s Healthcare Insights Study found a strong appetite from both consumers and physicians for more connected, more personalized care across the health ecosystem: 83% of consumers want their primary care provider (PCP) to know more about the other specialists they’re seeing and take their diagnoses and prescriptions into account. Likewise, 87% of providers want to send personalized automated reminders via text, email, and app notifications to keep patients on track, especially those with long-term complex conditions.
In addition to personalizing patient care — and perhaps most exciting for healthcare operations and finance leaders — AI is poised to transform the backend of healthcare delivery, driving operational efficiencies for providers and payers alike where manual tasks and antiquated technologies (hello, fax machines) are prolific.
Cleveland Clinic is a great example of a health system deploying AI across its operations. Through developing its Virtual Command Center to help forecast demand for care, Cleveland Clinic is driving efficiencies like a 7% increase in daily hospital transfer admissions from its main campus in just one year — an impressive feat for a provider that handles hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions annually.
Here are three more examples of how AI enhances healthcare operations.
Research by Microsoft and Goldsmiths, University of London estimates AI saves doctors four hours of administrative work per week. Intelligent assistants powered by speech-to-text models, for example, can handle documentation, fetch relevant medical information, and suggest potential diagnoses and treatment options in real time, giving physicians more time to focus on patients.
AI algorithms optimize scheduling for patients and providers, resulting in shorter wait times and better deployment of resources — all while accounting for factors like patient urgency, provider availability, and even traffic patterns. Healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes leverage AI to manage bed allocations, operating room availability, and staff rotations to prevent shortages.
Delays, errors, and fraud have long been realities for healthcare billing and insurance claims. But because AI processes claims faster, more accurately, and more consistently than humans do, it’s perfectly suited for automating such complex systems.
In addition to reducing errors and delays, AI can detect patterns that signal healthcare fraud, putting a serious dent in a $300 billion problem according to the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA).
“AI creates positive ripple effects across healthcare systems. Take Athena Health’s recent survey that found 83% of physicians believe AI-enabled assistants would reduce the burnout they face,” Gagan Tandon, Chief Data & AI Officer at WillowTree says. “Tools like Suki slash documentation time by 72%, letting physicians focus on patients instead of taking notes. That same documentation then drives a significant reduction in claim denials, including a 48% decrease in amended encounter rates.”
Wearables and IoT devices make monitoring and managing patients easier than ever before, resulting in earlier treatment interventions and improved outcomes. This convergence of consumer wearables and medical devices is driven by several factors, starting with advancements in sensor technology and miniaturization. Patients track an ever-widening range of health metrics including heart rate variability (HRV), blood glucose levels, and sleep patterns.
The more personal health data consumers have access to, the more they become empowered in their own health management. Straits Research projects the global wearables market to grow from $66.45 billion in 2025 to $528.58 billion by 2033.
Here are three use cases driving the growth of wearables and the integration of IoT in healthcare.
Wearable devices transform how we collect health data. Whereas periodic check-ups only snapshot patient data, wearables continuously monitor patients’ vital signs and other health metrics. This constant stream of data generates a more comprehensive understanding of an individual’s health, allowing for earlier detection of potential issues and more personalized treatment.
Wearable technology’s greatest value lies in its ability to integrate with broader healthcare systems. However, there has historically been a gap between consumers’ enthusiasm for this data and providers’ willingness to use it, due to both a lack of trust in the quality of the data and a lack of trustworthy system integrations with electronic health records (EHRs).
But now, EHR providers like Epic are building secure, compliant connections with mobile health services like Apple Health and Fitbit. With many of the world’s top hospitals tightly connected to Epic, 2025 will see an uptick in doctors using streaming data from patients’ health and fitness apps to inform decision-making.
5G offers capabilities WiFi does not, like the ability to quickly transfer gigabyte-size MRIs and CT scans without loss in image quality. Those same capabilities enhance 5G-enabled wearables and sensors, allowing doctors to monitor vital signs from blood pressure to oxygen levels in real time — a boon for remote patient monitoring, especially those suffering from chronic conditions.
According to Pixel Health, 5G does all this more securely than WiFi, too. Pixel notes that when properly set up, 5G connections prevent any traffic from going over the internet, keeping connection between patients and providers private.
“Wearables are taking big steps forward. Apple’s doing exciting things with stuff like HealthKit, which stores huge amounts of information from any wearable or app, then makes that data accessible to other apps for processing. Airpods getting FDA clearance to be sold as hearing aids is huge too,” Andrew Carter, Practice Advisor at WillowTree says. “But there’s so much more happening that gets less attention, like how we now have more device permissions and capabilities for constant connections to accessories without wrecking battery life or having to do more manual syncs.”
In only a few years, telehealth and RPM have gone from emerging technologies to essential components of a modern, efficient healthcare system. What began as a healthcare trend of convenience was ignited by the COVID-19 pandemic as an essential channel for access. Now, it continues to grow, thanks to advancements like 5G networks and video conferencing technologies, making virtual appointments as effective as in-person visits for a widening range of medical consultations.
Researchers from Boston Strategic Partners report the U.S. telehealth market will grow to $140.7 billion by 2030, buoyed by use cases like the following.
Telehealth platforms connect consumers with healthcare providers via secure video calls, messaging portals, and other digital channels. Virtual visits grant unprecedented access to care (look no further than Amazon’s One Medical with 24/7 on-demand virtual care for Prime members), improve patient engagement, and result in fewer missed appointments, especially for those with busy lives, mobility issues, or who live in remote locations. For these patients, telehealth is well-suited for routine check-ups, follow-up appointments, and mental health consultations.
Furthermore, telehealth expands access to specialty care. In rural areas where 20% of Americans live but only 10% of physicians practice, telehealth connects physicians with national specialists for expert advice, second opinions, and real-time consults. Plus, expansion of 5G networks means greater ease and security when sharing patient information, such as radiology or pathology images.
With the help of conversational AI, voice-enabled telehealth services free physicians to focus on the patient instead of their keyboards. Speech-to-text models accurately capture and document information in real time. Conversations can then break down into structured data, significantly reducing administrative work for providers on the backend. All that results in greater patient engagement, fewer errors, and the delivery of higher quality care.
Nearly 50 million Americans utilized remote patient monitoring devices as of 2022, a testament to how much new RPM technologies have improved the management of chronic conditions such as pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. This growing adoption means physicians can track more consumers’ vital signs and symptoms in real time, driving earlier interventions and reducing hospital readmissions.
“Maintaining a competitive advantage in the telehealth space hinges on intuitive and engaging user experience (UX) design. I’ve worked with several telehealth providers where a low-quality digital experience has only added more frustration to an already stressful time in their customers’ lives,” Derek Braymeyer, Chief Engineering Officer at WillowTree says. “With conversational UX maturing significantly over the past couple of years, we can ensure that both patients and providers find these tools easy to use, which in turn boosts adoption and quality of the telehealth experience.”
The digital transformation underway in mental health care brings a new era of accessibility and personalized support. The multibillion-dollar mental health app market is rapidly trending toward platforms to meet the world’s growing demand for psychological and psychiatric care. Some of these platforms include EHR software, opening the door for therapists to integrate with other providers.
Consumers enjoy advanced capabilities too, like the ability to match with therapists based on insurance, symptoms, and prescription needs. Use cases like the following are leading the way.
Modern mental health platforms leverage AI to personalize support and identify moments of intervention. Apps track users’ moods, behaviors, and patterns over time, offering insights and suggesting corrective actions before issues escalate into a potential crisis.
The trend toward greater insurance coverage and accessibility for telehealth services is poised to continue, particularly for virtual mental and behavioral therapies. Congress recently extended telehealth flexibilities for two more years (i.e., through December 31, 2026), which is significant because private insurers and state lawmakers often follow the lead of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on balancing coverage across telemedicine and in-person visits.
Likewise, Congress expanded definitions for “audio-only” telehealth under certain circumstances (e.g., patients lacking strong internet connections for video conferencing), a move that acknowledges the need for greater accessibility and equity in virtual health. These developments signal confidence for providers to not only continue their investment in telehealth, but also deepen integration of mental and behavioral services with traditional healthcare.
Digital tools of increasing sophistication help patients proactively manage stress and develop mindfulness. Mental health platforms can recommend guided meditations (look no further than the success of Calm), breathing exercises, and sleep remedies to encourage the development of healthy coping mechanisms.
“We know that behavioral health is inseparable from physical health. However, health data has never provided a holistic portrait of an individual’s well-being. The Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model, a recent landmark move by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will change that,” Margo Bulka, Group VP, Strategy at WillowTree says. “Healthcare leaders will need to work to rapidly integrate mental health platforms with traditional healthcare systems. This will significantly enhance patient care by providing seamless access to comprehensive health data, ultimately improving treatment outcomes.”
What’s crystal clear is that healthcare is going digital. With delivery increasingly reliant on technology, the need for standardized health data (as well as ways to manage and share that data) become more important. This can seem daunting, a process global health experts have described as “hard and slow moving.”
But breakthroughs in tech, especially AI, are enabling healthcare systems to connect more seamlessly than ever before, driven by several key trends.
Patients are demanding deeper access and more control over their personal information. This shift in patient access requires robust data platforms that let consumers share their data with the providers they trust. In the short term, these patient-centric platforms will drive more personalized care. In the long term, they’ll provide the right level of urgency to make medical innovations happen more quickly than in years past.
The healthcare industry is finally investing in tools to connect the many disparate systems in place today. As information flows more seamlessly between providers, it will result in:
Last, the combination of AI and data standardization will open a new era of interoperability, unlocking the full potential of healthcare data to drive rapid innovation.
“At WillowTree, we’re dedicated to a future where technology empowers patients to be and become healthier,” Chris Westall, Chief Marketing Services Officer at WillowTree says. “By tearing down barriers that cause friction in the healthcare system and creating smooth digital experiences, we’re working to deliver patient care that’s tailored to each individual’s needs.”
The healthcare trends of 2025 are propelling a reimagination of care — not only in care delivery, but also health insurance, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, fitness, and the wellness industry at large. These trends carry us closer to a future where care is more preventive than reactive, more accessible than exclusive, and more personalized than one-size-fits-all.
But great innovation demands great responsibility. Digital transformations in healthcare must remain mindful of privacy concerns, ensure equitable access to new technologies, and maintain the human touch that’s so vital in healthcare. With some irony, digital technologies are only valuable if they allow the practice of healthcare to become more human again.
At WillowTree, we help healthcare organizations not just adapt for the future, but shape it. Our expertise includes:
And more. See how we’re pioneering a digital-first future with our Health & Wellness services.
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