By Carter Childs, Head of Strategic Partnerships at Revecore
Walking into HIMSS this year, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The last few years have felt a little flat. But HIMSS 2026 was different — the halls were fuller, the conversations charged, and there was a genuine sense that something meaningful was happening. Here are the top 3 takeaways that really stuck with me.
Agentic AI Took Center Stage
As expected, AI dominated the conversation. What struck me was how much it had matured in just the past year. The industry has moved beyond AI as a theoretical concept to at scale, practical applications of agentic AI: systems that reason, decide, and execute tasks with minimal human intervention. Voice AI was everywhere, from platform players like Zoom and RingCentral to purpose-built healthcare solutions.
A lot of this felt familiar because at Revecore we’re already living it. From using AI to summarize medical records and support appeal drafting to applying machine-learning (ML) algorithms to surface payment trends, we’re putting these capabilities to work for clients today.
Epic’s AI Moves: Bold and Worth Watching
No HIMSS recap is complete without Epic. They arrived with real results: more than 85% of their customer base is now actively using Epic AI. Penny, their revenue cycle AI, has helped reduce coding-related denials by over 20% at high-usage sites and cut prior authorization submission time by 42% at Summit Health. Patient-facing Emmie drove a 58% reduction in billing-related customer service messages at Rush University Medical Center.
The headline announcement was Agent Factory — a no-code visual builder letting health systems design and deploy their own custom AI agents inside Epic. For health systems navigating this landscape, the opportunity isn’t choosing between platforms and partners — it’s knowing how to get the most out of both. Having worked deeply in the Epic ecosystem for years, we see this evolution up close with our clients every day. That fluency is what allows Revecore to help health systems truly maximize their investment in them.
Best-of-Breed Is Having a Moment
End-to-end vendors are facing real scrutiny. The “jack of all trades, master of none” critique is getting harder to ignore, and the appetite for specialized, best-of-breed solutions was palpable on the floor. For a company like Revecore — purpose-built around the specific complexity of revenue cycle, including underpayments and denials management — that’s an encouraging signal. Depth matters, and the industry seems to be remembering that.
A Personal Highlight: Best in KLAS
I’d be remiss not to mention one of the most memorable moments of the week. Revecore was recognized last month with a 2026 Best in KLAS award for Complex Claims Services, and the evening KLAS hosted to celebrate was genuinely special — a great venue, a room full of peers who’ve earned the same recognition, and a renewed sense of pride in what this team has built.
Winning Best in KLAS for the sixth year in a row when the market is actively questioning whether vendors are truly best-of-breed is meaningful. We’re not trying to be everything to everyone. We’re trying to be the best at what we do.
HIMSS 2026 left me energized in a way I haven’t felt after a conference in a while. The conversations were real and the momentum was tangible. The pace of change isn’t slowing down — and neither are we!