Globally, health systems are grappling with mounting pressures: workforce burnout, overcrowded emergency departments, rapidly growing wait lists and rising operational costs [1]. As escalating expenses push health systems to the brink, the following two trends (Nos 3 & 4 in our series on healthcare trends for 2026) illustrate the many game-changing ways in which healthcare leaders and their teams are fighting back. How? With virtual care delivery models and effective cost-containment strategies.

Trend 3: Virtual models are entering the mainstream and redefining care 

Virtual care is moving from a stopgap solution to a core strategy for health systems under pressure. The question is: how do we scale safely and sustainably? 

Virtual care sees health services supported and delivered through digital and ICT capabilities [2]. It spans across every level of health systems: from prevention and primary care to hospital and specialist tertiary services.

Common virtual modalities include telehealth, hospital-in-the-home and virtual emergency departments [3]. These are explored in more detail below.

How is telehealth extending the reach of healthcare?

For rural and remote communities, geographic challenges and workforce shortages limit access to care. This results in a compounded disadvantage, with a higher burden of disease and preventable morbidity and mortality.

Telehealth, including video conferencing, secure messaging platforms, and remote monitoring devices, has bridged this gap [4]. Advanced examples include AI-powered telemedicine platforms synced to wearable devices. These include smart socks for phlebopathic conditions or cardiac monitoring implants supporting continuous patient monitoring.

These advances support early detection and opportunity for intervention for people living remotely. 

How are virtual wards/hospital-at-home relieving pressure on hospitals?

Hospitals are increasingly seeking to deliver hospital-level acute care to patients in their own homes. These patients would otherwise require general ward admission.

Cutting edge digital healthcare technologies support an alternative to hospital care. They help to relieve pressure on hospital beds through either admission avoidance (step-up models) or early supported discharge/hospital substitution (step-down models) [5]. 

Virtual wards/hospitals-a-home have been adopted across Australia, Canada, the United States and Europe for almost three decades. The clinical sophistication and capacity to safely and effectively manage increasingly complex patient cohorts in such services has significantly evolved over this time.

A great example of such services is My Home Hospital [6], an Australian public private partnership. This provides comprehensive acute care through multidisciplinary teams (doctors, nurses, allied health), 24/7 care coordinator access, and coordinated support services including pathology, imaging, and medication delivery [7].  See FAQs, below for more examples.

Can virtual emergency departments reduce overcrowding in EDs?

An increasing volume of avoidable presentations is seeing emergency departments (EDs) globally grappling with overcrowding. Yet this situation can be (and is being) alleviated with enabling virtual solutions.

More than 20 per cent of minor injury presentations could be diverted to urgent treatment centers, primary care or self-care if assessed remotely by appropriately skilled clinicians [10]. Virtual EDs address this by deploying interventions across critical points in the care pathway.

In Australia, Victoria’s Virtual ED, the largest in the Southern hemisphere, offers 24/7 access for over 6 million residents. Patients can self-refer via a web platform, paramedics conduct video-consultations from emergency scenes, 000 dispatchers redirect calls for remote assessment, and GPs or other healthcare professionals can initiate referrals [11]. See FAQs below for more on this.  

Why virtual care extends beyond devices to training and ethical use

Virtual care is not just a one-size-fits-all solution. People increasingly expect home-based care to preserve autonomy, maintain daily routines and integrate clinical intervention around their lives.

Patient experience, supported by user-centered design, is a marker of service quality. Providers increasingly leverage integrated customer communications and interactive experience management to meet these expectations. 

But virtual care is not just about the technology itself. Successful adoption requires training and support for patients, family need and multidisciplinary teams. Clear eligibility criteria are paramount to guarantee patient safety.  Ethical standards and robust data security must be established to foster trust in virtual care technologies.

What questions should leaders ask about virtual care?

  1. How will we scale virtual care models while maintaining safety and clinical quality? 
  2. Are we investing in infrastructure and workforce capability to support virtual hospitals and hospitals-at-home? 
  3. How do we embed user-centered design and trust into every virtual care interaction? 
  4. What governance and funding frameworks will ensure sustainability and equity? 
  5. How do we balance innovation and risk to deliver better outcomes and experiences with virtual care? 

Virtual care holds tremendous potential. However, it needs to be footed on a strong infrastructure, sustainable financing and be implemented as one-of-many interventions, not as a standalone solution.  

Trend 4: Rising costs drive demand for cost-containment strategies 

Healthcare costs are climbing at an unsustainable pace. Inflation, high-cost specialty drugs, and growing demand for mental health services are straining budgets across providers, payors, and governments.

Despite these rising costs, there is cause for optimism. Global examples show that bold, technology-enabled strategies can deliver measurable savings and sustainability. The question is: are you ready to lead the change? 

What is the cost of healthcare – both financially and on patient access?

Traditional responses such as shifting costs to patients through higher premiums and copays are eroding access and driving reliance on emergency care. The financial outlook is stark: U.S. healthcare spend is projected to hit $8.6 trillion by 2033  [12], while Australia’s health expenditure will exceed $295 billion by 2026 [13] [14].

Despite years of effort, many organizations remain locked in legacy models. Administrative overhead still consumes up to 25% of total US health expenditure [15]. Specialty drugs account for half of global drug spend, and operational inefficiencies persist.

The question is no longer whether to act, but how fast and how boldly. 

How can digital technology help to contain costs?

More effective integration of digital technology into everyday practice could save more than $5 billion annually, according to the Australian Productivity Commission [16]. This is especially through reducing duplicate tests, automating up to 30% of administrative tasks and improving clinical workflows.

Leaders face a strategic inflection point: continue incremental fixes or embrace transformative cost-containment strategies. The stakes are high; those who hesitate risk financial fragility and diminished patient outcomes. 

Around the world, innovators are showing what is possible – see FAQs, below. For example, in Spain, Catalonia’s hospital-at-home programme scaled virtual wards across 27 hospitals, reducing inpatient bed demand and nursing requirements. By shifting acute care into homes for selected patients, the region saved €8 million annually while maintaining safety and quality outcomes [18].  

Such examples prove that decisive action works and scales. The next wave of healthcare leadership will be defined by those who move beyond pilots to embed cost-containment into their operating model. 

What questions should leaders ask about cost containment?

  1. Where can automation deliver immediate savings without compromising care? 
  2. How will we accelerate partnerships to unlock economies of scale? 
  3. Have we embedded efficiency goals and measurable targets into our strategic plans and performance frameworks?  
  4. Are we leveraging funding levers and resource management processes to actively reduce waste and enable change?  
  5. Do our teams have the skills, data, and analytics they need to identify efficiency opportunities and measure impact?  

The answers to these questions will shape not just your organization’s financial resilience, but the future of healthcare itself. 

This is the second of three articles discussing the trends in healthcare for 2026.

In the first article, we explored:

  • How healthcare systems are responding to aging populations and the burden of chronic disease
  • Why the future of healthcare is AI-powered, patient-centered, and data-driven
  • The use of behavioral insights and predictive analytics in today’s complex healthcare landscape
  • How emerging technologies make preventive care scalable, personalized, and economically viable.
  • The need for governance, trust, human‑AI collaboration, and organizational redesign in proactive health systems.

The third article in this series will discuss:

  • The role of digital models in clinical research and how electronic medical records systems can enhance data integrity
  • How genomic medicine offers a new frontier in patient care, from prevention and diagnosis to individualized treatment
  • Why genomics is still underutilized as an effective healthcare tool.

Sources:

[1]         ‘Australia’s health 2024: in brief, Summary – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/australias-health-2024-in-brief/summary 

[2]         ‘Safety and quality in virtual care | Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’: https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/e-health-safety/safety-and-quality-virtual-care 

[3]         ‘Virtual Care Project – Final Report | Resources | IHACPA’: https://www.ihacpa.gov.au/resources/virtual-care-project-final-report 

[4]         J. Talevski et al., ‘From concept to reality: A comprehensive exploration into the development and evolution of a virtual emergency department’, J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open, vol. 5, no. 4, p. e13231, July 2024, doi: 10.1002/emp2.13231. 

[5]         ‘Evidence brief: Hospital in the home’, 2024. 

[6]         ‘Home Health Care Services’, Amplar Health: https://amplarhealth.com.au/amplar-health-home-hospital/ 

[7]         ‘Home Health Care Services’, Amplar Health: https://amplarhealth.com.au/amplar-health-home-hospital/ 

[8]         ‘Hospital at Home | Hospital Clínic Barcelona’, Clínic Barcelona: https://www.clinicbarcelona.org/en/service/hospital-at-home 

[9]         ‘POST-PN-0744.pdf’: https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PN-0744/POST-PN-0744.pdf 

[10]       ‘Microsoft Word – Transformation of urgent and emergency care_ models of care and measurement report.docx’: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/transformation-of-urgent-and-emergency-care-models-of-care-and-measurement.pdf 

[11]       J. Talevski et al., ‘From concept to reality: A comprehensive exploration into the development and evolution of a virtual emergency department’, J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open, vol. 5, no. 4, p. e13231, July 2024, doi: 10.1002/emp2.13231. 

[12]       ‘How much is health spending expected to grow?’, Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/how-much-is-health-spending-expected-to-grow/ 

[13]       ‘Health expenditure Australia 2021–22, About’, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/health-welfare-expenditure/health-expenditure-australia-2021-22/contents/about 

[14]       ‘Budget Paper No. 1’: https://budget.gov.au/content/bp1/download/bp1_2025-26.pdf 

[15]       ‘Almost 25% of Healthcare Spending is Considered Wasteful’: https://www.pgpf.org/article/almost-25-percent-of-healthcare-spending-is-considered-wasteful-heres-why/ 

[16]       ‘Leveraging digital technology in healthcare – Commission Research Paper | Productivity Commission’: https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries-and-research/digital-healthcare/ 

[17]       S. Roy, ‘6 Ways AI Reduces Healthcare Costs: Proven Strategies That Work’, Dialog Health: https://www.dialoghealth.com/post/ways-ai-reduces-healthcare-costs 

[18]       R. González-Colom et al., ‘Five years of Hospital at Home adoption in Catalonia: impact, challenges, and proposals for quality assurance’, BMC Health Serv Res, vol. 24, no. 1, p. 154, Feb. 2024, doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-10603-1. 

[19]       N. H. S. England, ‘NHS England » Commissioning framework for best value biological medicines’: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-framework-for-best-value-biological-medicines/ 

[20]       D. and A. Australian Government Department of Health, ‘Australian National Aged Care Classification funding model’: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/AN-ACC