Texas-based FinThrivea healthcare income administration firm, lately revealed the 2026 Transformative Tendencies and Information-Pushed Insights Reportby which RCM (income cycle administration) leaders ranked synthetic intelligence (AI) and automation as their high funding precedence, particularly throughout prior authorization, denials, underpayments, and scientific documentation.
In a press launchFinThrive introduced that, for the primary time because the firm began monitoring RCM leaders’ objectives and funding priorities by the Transformative Tendencies survey in 2023, affected person expertise has turn into the highest organizational objective (71 p.c), together with growing income (58 p.c) and decreasing prices (36 p.c). Leaders are more and more counting on AI, automation, and better-integrated programs to cut back friction throughout the income cycle, ship clearer monetary communications, speed up decision, and in the end help stronger collections and decrease cost-to-collect.
“This reordering signifies that income cycle leaders are beginning to transfer away from short-term fixes, corresponding to aggressive cost-cutting and slim reimbursement methods,” mentioned Hemant Goel, president and CEO of FinThrive, in a press release. “Organizations are shifting from reactive disaster administration to deliberate recalibration targeted on rebuilding stability, rethinking progress, and advancing know-how’s function within the income cycle to enhance affected person satisfaction.”
In line with the information launch, over 70 p.c of respondents anticipate to cut back their reliance on third-party income cycle distributors, and almost 60 p.c plan to consolidate RCM distributors throughout the subsequent three years, indicating that suppliers are looking for long-term strategic partnerships with trusted distributors to help them throughout the platform, reasonably than a number of quick-fix level options.
Further key findings of the report included:
- Seventy-six p.c of income cycle leaders say implementing automation options is their high initiative for 2026.
- Seventy-three p.c are utilizing AI and automation to streamline prior authorization, whereas 67 p.c are deploying it to handle denials and underpayments.
- Fifty-six p.c report that automation and AI characterize their single largest space of funding, signaling a shift from experimentation to enterprise-scale deployment.
- Eighty-five p.c of organizations report altering their strategic funding in RCM know-how in response to latest cybersecurity and clearinghouse disruptions.
