Healthcare shifts to managed services

Hospitals are moving outsourced tech support into the center of daily operations just as one of the industry’s biggest companies says it is spending more on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. (prnewswire.com) (unitedhealthgroup.com) Nordic said on April 22 that 61% of healthcare information-technology leaders now see outsourced managed services as a central part of IT strategy, not a supplemental service. The survey covered 2026 responses from healthcare chief information officers and IT leaders using Epic application management services. (prnewswire.com) The survey found a split by market: about 70% of urban organizations said managed services are central to strategy, versus 43% of rural organizations. Nordic said larger systems are tying those contracts to analytics, integration, governance dashboards, compliance and innovation, while other providers are using them to cover workforce gaps and day-to-day operations. (prnewswire.com) Managed services in healthcare usually mean an outside firm helps run software, updates, workflows and support tickets after an electronic health record system goes live. When that work shifts from overflow help to core operations, vendors often get deeper access to systems, data flows and change calendars. (prnewswire.com) (hhs.gov) UnitedHealth Group, in first-quarter 2026 results released April 21, reported $111.7 billion in revenue and said it is accelerating simplification and modernization with “substantial artificial intelligence and cybersecurity investments.” In prepared remarks, Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hemsley said Optum Insight is seeing increased market interest with an “AI-first enterprise approach” and that the company is “investing in AI-enabled modernization.” (unitedhealthgroup.com 1) (unitedhealthgroup.com 2) That combination leaves health systems relying on more outside operators and more automated tools at the same time. The Department of Health and Human Services has said healthcare facilities are attractive cyber targets, with large breaches reported to its Office for Civil Rights rising 93% from 369 in 2018 to 712 in 2022, and ransomware-related large breaches rising 278% over the same period. (hhs.gov) Federal health officials have also tied cyber incidents to multi-week outages, cancelled appointments, delayed procedures and patient diversion to other facilities. In that setting, third-party access controls, shared change management and documentation that vendors actually followed security requirements become operating issues as much as procurement issues. (hhs.gov) (hhscyber.hhs.gov) The shift is also landing as providers keep adding complexity around interoperability, analytics and performance demands on electronic record systems. Nordic said those pressures, along with tighter margins and rising Epic complexity, are pushing health systems toward a more permanent outsourced operating model. (prnewswire.com) The next test is whether hospitals can treat vendors less like emergency contractors and more like extensions of the IT department, with the same evidence, approvals and accountability. The technology is changing fast, but the operational question is old: who can touch critical systems, who approves the change, and who proves it was done safely. (prnewswire.com) (hhs.gov)