In this episode, we explore 2025’s healthcare IT investment landscape and what it means for overwhelmed providers. Learn which technologies are getting funded, why workflow integration matters more than flashy features, and how to evaluate solutions that actually save time.
Special thanks to KLAS Research and Bain & Company for their report.
Click to expand and read this episode's transcript.
TDJ 109 Bain KLAS Report
[00:00:00]
All right. Hello and welcome back to the DocBuddy Journal where we try to cut through the noise to talk about what really matters in health it. I’m Erik Sunset, your host. And today we’re diving into where the smart money is going in 2025, and more importantly, what that might mean for providers who are tired of drowning in administrative work.
Look, we spend our days talking to clinics, ASCs, health systems groups, and I can tell you firsthand, the healthcare IT landscape is changing quickly. And the question isn’t whether you need technology to survive anymore. It’s which technologies are actually worth your time and money. And that’s obviously always been the case, is which health it is actually worth investing in, but in the staffing landscape, in the reimbursement landscape here in 2025 and certainly doesn’t look like it’s gonna change a whole lot going into 2026.[00:01:00]
The right tech is just so much more important now than it ever has been to healthcare. So today we’re gonna break down a very recent Bain and company and class, uh, and that’s KLAS class research, uh, report on health IT investments. And I’m gonna tell you exactly how these trends connect to the real problems you’re facing every day.
Because at the end of the day, if technology isn’t giving you back time to focus on patients, what’s the point? So let’s get into it. Here’s what’s happening per the report in the investment world and why you should care, even if you’re not out there raising money. The days of funding, just any old healthcare app that has a slick pitch deck are over.
Investors got burned by companies that promised the moon but couldn’t deliver ROI and now they’re asking the hard questions. Does this actually work in real clinical workflows? Will my providers actually use it? Can you prove that it saves time or money or even better? [00:02:00] Both. And honestly, that’s great news for providers because it means the technology’s getting funded now are the ones that actually solve problems, not just the ones with the flashiest demos.
Man, I could think back to the early days of the Meaningful Use Act and call to mind a couple of vendors, uh, that had a really flashy demo, but ended up just being a flash in the pan and obviously a dock buddy. We’re seeing this shift firsthand. Uh, when we talk to new clients, uh, they’re not interested in hearing about cool technology.
They wanna know, how much time will this save my docs? How fast will my operative reports get completed? Will this actually integrate with my EHR or is this going to be another system my team has to log into? And the winners in this new investment landscape are, the company’s focused on three things, workflow optimization, real interoperability, and measurable time savings.
Sound familiar? It should, because that’s exactly what we’ve been building since day one here at DocBuddy. And for the [00:03:00] record, day one is all the way back in 2014. So let’s pivot a little bit to what remains the hottest topic in healthcare. And that’s ai, um, because it’s getting a ton of investment dollars right now.
But here’s the thing. Most of the AI hype to date is just that hype. And what’s getting real traction with investors and more importantly with providers, is AI that integrates seamlessly into existing workflows. AI that doesn’t require you to change how you practice medicine or add extra steps to your day.
Think about documentation. Providers are spending up to two thirds of their time on administrative tasks instead of patient care, and that’s just insane. And the really insane part is that hasn’t gotten better over time. That’s getting worse. So when investors see AI powered documentation tools that can cut time in half or more, they’re gonna pay attention.
But here’s what separates the real solutions from the vaporware. Does [00:04:00] the AI understand medical terminology? Can it handle specialty specific language? Does it work with voice dictation in real time and critically? Does it integrate directly with your EHR or does it create another system that you have to copy and paste from?
At Dock Buddy, our AI note solution was built specifically to answer these questions. We’re not trying to replace providers. We’re trying to get you out of the office faster so that you can actually have a life. Our voice Rec is powered by Next Gen Technology, trained on real medical dictations, and it transfers seamlessly to your R.
There’s no extra steps, no clunky workarounds, and really the investment thesis here is simple AI that saves providers measurable time while improving accuracy will win. Everything else is just noise and look, the same principle applies to other AI applications, getting investment predictive analytics for patient risk.
Great if it actually alerts you in the existing workflow. AI powered [00:05:00] diagnostic tools fantastic if they integrate into your PAC system and don’t require you to upload images to a separate platform. The pattern is really clear. Integration and ease of use matter more than raw AI capabilities.
Now let’s shift a little bit. I wanna talk about something that doesn’t get enough attention, but is absolutely critical Mobility and interoperability, and this is where massive investment dollars are flowing and for good reason. Here’s the problem, healthcare data is stuck in silos. You’ve got your EHR on a desktop computer in your office.
Your hospital has a different system. Your A SC has yet another system. And when you’re on call at 2:00 AM. Good luck trying to access the patient information you need without DocBuddy. Of course, this isn’t just inconvenient, it’s expensive and it’s dangerous. Delayed OP reports because surgeons can’t access their system from the surgery center miscommunications because call [00:06:00] schedules aren’t centralized.
Billing delays because documentation is stuck in one system and can’t flow to another. Investors are finally waking up to this reality. They’re funding companies that solve these interoperability challenges. But here’s what they’re really looking for. Solutions that don’t require massive IT overhauls.
Cloud-based platforms that providers can access from their phones or tablets, period. End of sentence systems that pull data from multiple sources and presented in one place is obviously part and parcel of that. Sound familiar? If you’re a listener of the show for any amount of time, you’ll know. We’re talking about DocBuddy here, and that’s literally what we built again since day one.
Going back to 2020. 2014, excuse me. So whether you’re in the clinic on call at the hospital doing procedures, at the surgery center, you’ve got instant access to patient schedules, demographics, medical records, everything you need, centralized and mobile. And for ASC specifically, we’ve eliminated the [00:07:00] paper chase.
Our op notes solution delivers instant generation and approval of operative reports with data flow between the surgery center and the affiliate clinics and your revenue cycle team, whether that’s internal or external. There’s just no more waiting for a purports to be completed. There’s no more chasing surgeons for signatures.
And then separate from our discussion around DocBuddy and our solutions, the investment community is betting big on this kind of workflow standardization because the ROI is so clear when you can save an a SC administrator hours every day and accelerate their revenue cycle by getting operative reports completed in an hour.
Instead of days, sometimes a week, sometimes two weeks. The business case rates itself. I wanna also give you a quick word on telehealth, uh, because it’s evolving in pretty interesting ways to relate directly to mobility and workflow. The pandemic. Yes. COVID-19. You can hardly hear a podcast from me without hearing [00:08:00] about our old friend COVID.
- Uh, but it did prove that remote care can work. But basic video visits just aren’t enough anymore. The investments, uh, now per the report are going into comprehensive virtual care ecosystems. So remote patient monitoring, asynchronous care, specialty telehealth. But here’s the connection to workflow.
These solutions only work if they integrate with your existing documentation and scheduling systems. If your telehealth platform is a separate silo that requires duplicate documentation, you’ve just made the problem. Worse, not better. So looking ahead to 2025, the end of 2025 and beyond, the most successful telehealth companies will be the ones that understand this workflow reality and needing real time data access, mobility, interoperability, um, and great workflows to boot.
Um, the ones with the fanciest video interface, if that’s all they’ve got, they won’t be long for [00:09:00] this world. So let’s take this home. Um, bringing it back to what matters most for you and your healthcare organization when you’re evaluating new health IT solutions, services, whatever they may be, whether that’s documentation, tools, scheduling systems, or anything else.
Here’s what to look for based on these investment trends. First, does it integrate with your EHR? If the answer is anything other than yes, seamlessly. Walk away. You don’t have time for another standalone system. Second, does it actually save time or does it just shift? Workaround? Be skeptical. Ask for specific metrics.
How much time is it saved per encounter? Per operative report per day? Third, is it truly mobile? Can your providers access it from their phones or tablets, wherever they’re practicing medicine? Because tethering providers to desktop computers is absolutely a productivity killer. We’ve seen that for 15 plus [00:10:00] years at this point.
That is not what providers want. It doesn’t help the ecosystem, and that is a net negative for your practice. Fourth, does it centralize data or does it create another silo? You need fewer systems, not more. And finally, can they prove ROI Can this vendor prove ROI? Real companies with real solutions can show you the numbers.
How much faster are your OP reports completed? How much admin time is saved? How much sooner can you bill? These are the same questions investors are asking and they’re the questions that you should ask too, because whether you’re spending venture capital dollars or you organization’s IT budget, you need to see real returns.
Finally, looking ahead, the investment trends all point in the same direction. Integrated mobile AI enhanced workflow solutions that give time back to providers and accelerate organization’s revenue cycles. It’s not about fancy technology for technology’s sake. It’s [00:11:00] about solving the fundamental problem that’s been plaguing healthcare for years.
Too much administrative burden and not enough time for patient care. At DocBuddy, as you are very well aware, we’ve been laser focused on these problems since day one. Said it a couple times during this show, laser focused since day one. Our mission’s always been to create more time for life and more time for wellness and healthcare for both patients and providers.
And everything we’re seeing in this investment landscape validates this approach. The companies that will thrive in 2025 and into the future are the ones that providers don’t need more tech. They need better workflows augmented by tech. They need systems that work, that work the way they work, not systems that force them to change their practice patterns.
So let’s put a bow on it. Really great to be back. Hope you’ve enjoyed the episode. And in conclusion here, uh, that’s really where we’re at in 2025. [00:12:00] Investment dollars are following the problems that matter most, documentation, burden, interoperability, and addressing workflow inefficiencies. If you’d like to learn more about DocBuddy and all of our solutions, I would highly encourage you to visit DocBuddy.com, our new website, uh, whether that’s in the clinic, hospital, or surgery center, where you need a better, more centralized workflow with mobility and oper, interoperability, DocBuddy.com is where you get it.
As always, be sure you’re subscribed to Apple Podcast, Spotify, and YouTube, so you always get the newest episodes of the show. And on behalf of the entire DocBuddy team, I want to thank you for listening to the DocBuddy journal. Until next time, I’m your host, Erik.