5 healthcare AI predictions for 2025 from Wolters Kluwer Health

Watch for healthcare AI to increase its footprint in the patient-safety domain over the coming year. 

That’s the word from Stacey Caywood, chief executive officer at Wolters Kluwer Health. 

“Imagine an AI helper app that works 24/7 in the background to identify instances where healthcare providers may miss a potential test or therapy for a patient or—worse—illicitly divert medications from patients, potentially doing harm,” Caywood writes in an “expert insights” blogpost from the company. “Stopping drug diversion with AI is just one example of AI scaling system-wide to comprehensively improve patient safety.”

Caywood also expects AI to streamline clinical workflows and improve clinician workforce development. She’s one of several Wolters Kluwer thought leaders quoted in the post. 

All the contributors set expectations for healthcare AI in 2025. Here are five key excerpts. 

1. The next 12 months are likely to set the stage for incremental—as opposed to abrupt—change.  

“Implementation of new federal and agency policies will take time,” predicts Peter Bonis, MD, Wolters Kluwer Health’s chief medical officer. “Advancement in AI applications will continue to be constrained by workflow, competing priorities and economic considerations driving uptake.” More from Bonis:  

‘The greatest progress at scale will likely continue to be in AI applications that drive revenue optimization, although some technologies like ambient listening will make progress due to their immediate promise to streamline workflow and document pain points.’

2. The success of clinical GenAI will largely depend on the degree to which it incorporates the human touch. 

“GenAI is positioned to play a role in improving patient care in 2025, but more work needs to be done to improve consistency and ensure that patients receive the highest quality care,” states Wolters Kluwer Health’s CEO for clinical effectiveness, Greg Samios. “This starts by defining responsible GenAI so that we can enhance efficiency and reach our destination of superior patient outcomes.” More from Samios: 

‘When thinking about the year ahead, I believe we can’t lose sight of the human touch or the quality interactions and trusted data that help push us forward.’

3. AI and VR will rewrite how future nurses prepare to practice. 

“In 2025, the fusion of AI and virtual reality will transform how students, residents, researchers and new-to-practice providers, nurses and healthcare professionals develop essential skills,” forecasts Julie Stegman, Wolters Kluwer Health’s VP of health learning and practice. “By integrating AI and VR, healthcare educators can create immersive learning environments, personalized learning paths and real-world simulations that mirror what life will be like when caring for patients.” More from Stegman: 

‘These expert solutions can help decrease the time it takes to onboard and ease the transition growing pains that new employees can face.’

4. AI will improve healthcare ‘one second at a time.’ 

“I anticipate we’ll see an increase in innovation and integrations to bring evidence-based recommendations directly into the clinical workflow,” predicts Wolters Kluwer Health product & solutions VP Yaw Fellin, “reducing the number of clicks needed to improve documentation, provide patient education and receive clinical decision support.” More Fellin: 

‘Just a few seconds can make all the difference in healthcare, and with each click saved, we can significantly reduce the cognitive burden on our healthcare professionals and foster more meaningful interactions with patients.’

5. GenAI may—just may—deliver measurable ROI for healthcare in 2025.   

“In 2025, GenAI in healthcare needs to shift from potential to practical value, focusing on delivering tangible benefits for professionals and patients in the system,” writes Holly Urban, MD, Wolters Kluwer Health’s VP for business development. “With this transition from hype cycle to value cycle we will continue to see focus on how GenAI can reduce some of the administrative burden of providers with tools such as ambient scribes.” More from Urban: 

‘Improved efficiency is always a top priority with healthcare leaders, but the continuing friction between payers and providers—coupled with potential regulatory changes with the new [Trump] administration—will make this focus even sharper. GenAI can play a critical support role.’

There’s more. Read the rest.