Most US healthcare organisations are falling short on AI plans as hiring demand rises, a report based on data from more than 1,500 employers has found.
The report’s central finding is that healthcare leaders are aligned on priorities, but execution is lagging.
The report, published by Incredible Health, drew on a survey of hundreds of healthcare executive leaders conducted in January 2026, alongside proprietary data from more than 1,500 US healthcare employers and 1.5m US healthcare workers on its marketplace.
Iman Abuzeid, chief executive and co-founder of Incredible Health, said: “Healthcare organisations have never been more committed to AI as a strategic priority, and the data shows exactly where the system is stalling.
“The challenge in 2026 is scalable AI execution. Our goal with this report is to give healthcare leaders a clear, actionable picture of where the gaps are and what it will take to close them.”
More than half of leaders say AI will be critical to their team’s success this year, and 47 per cent plan to increase AI spending in 2026.
Yet 76 per cent say their organisations are not prepared to implement AI at the speed required, citing change management challenges, unclear ownership and inconsistent role-based adoption.
While employer spending on AI is growing, 70 per cent of healthcare workers are not using AI tools in their daily workflows.
At the same time, 80 per cent of healthcare workers say they want more training in how to use AI, a sign that appetite for AI is far outpacing access to it.
Recruitment teams are also under strain. Only 16 per cent of healthcare hiring teams currently use AI in their workflows.
The average healthcare recruiter manages 70 open roles at once and reaches only 10 per cent of applicants. The other 90 per cent never speak with anyone.
The share of candidates passing initial screens has also fallen year on year, from 34 per cent to 29 per cent.
Workforce capacity is not keeping pace with hiring demand. Over the past 12 months, 55 per cent of recruitment teams stayed the same size and 21 per cent shrank, while hiring demand continued to rise.
A third of employers report that at least a quarter of their nursing workforce is within five years of retirement.
Retention has emerged as the defining workforce priority, with 67 per cent of healthcare leaders citing it as their top priority for 2026.
Meanwhile, 42 per cent of leaders rank improving the candidate experience as a top priority, with employers increasingly treating every touchpoint in the hiring process as a direct expression of their employer brand, culture and long-term retention strategy.
The report outlines four areas where healthcare leaders can act now: implementing AI with a phased, execution-led approach tied to measurable outcomes; building retention-first workforce strategies through flexible scheduling, career pathways and manageable workloads; protecting recruiter capacity as hiring demand climbs; and delivering a modern, candidate-friendly hiring experience that builds trust from the first interaction.
