A dynamic mix of risk and reward has shaped 2026. This CommerceHealthcare® report examines key issues:
- Financial & Reimbursement
- Patient Financial Experience
- Technology and Automation
This report tracks the status of the themes at mid-year to help leaders evaluate current directions.
Health-ISAC cited reports:
Overcoming barriers to AI-driven automation success.
Digital payment adoption continues to accelerate. ACH transactions, virtual credit cards, near-real-tome payments and digital wallets are all seeing rapid growth, while embedding finance is expanding digital payment options for providers and patients alike.
Healthcare cyber incidents grew again in 2025 and remain an evergreen issue.18 Advanced technology is fueling the assault. Automated bots are said to make up over half of today’s internet traffic and “relentlessly probe every public website for simple flaws.”19
Scanning the landscape at mid-year reveals an issue gaining prominence. AI agents being deployed in organizations can be hacked. Insider breaches can result because the targeted agents have access to sensitive internal information. With an estimated 45 digital identities per employee, continuous network monitoring for unsanctioned AI apps or unusual data access patterns is a complex undertaking.20
AI also offers new defenses. Autonomous systems may “fundamentally shift the defensive posture of critical infrastructure, finding and closing vulnerabilities faster than any human team could.”21
CommerceHealthcare® solutions are provided by Commerce Bank.
18. Health-ISAC, “Cybersecurity Trends and Threats in the Health Sector 2025:Q4,” January 2026.
19. Sonicwall, 2026 Cyber Protect Report, March 2026.
20. A. Loten, “Hackers Turn to AI Agents to Steal Companies’ Data, Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2026.
21. Health-ISAC, “Claude Mythos and its Health Sector Implications,” May 2026.
Read the article in Becker’s Hospital Review. Read More
