Greybeard experts express their views on the issues currently facing the healthcare c-suite.
By Laurence Smith, Greybeard Healthcare Co-Founder.
June 2026.
Greybeard Healthcare has assembled a network of highly experienced healthcare experts across a vast range of disciplines. Around half the network are clinically qualified (physicians, oncologists, pharmacists, emergency medicine specialists, primary care medics); the others have experience across the many other disciplines required for a healthcare service to function effectively (quality, workforce, healthtech, finance, hospital design).
As we approach the midpoint of 2026, we felt it would be of interest to the wider healthcare community if we collated the knowledge and wisdom of this network across the themes that have been explored in recent Greybeard Insight articles. The field work was conducted in May 2026, and this article shares the findings that emerged.
Research topic #1:
Healthcare megatrends
In April 2026, Greybeard Healthcare published an article ‘Healthcare megatrends 2026’, which can be accessed on our website (please click the ‘Insight’ tab).
This identified five megatrends, based on the experience of the authors.
Greybeard’s experts ranked them as follows:
- 71%: Personalized medicine – driven by genetics, AI and precision treatments
- 65%: Away from the hospital – hospital at home and community clinics
- 62% Resource rebalancing – from elective to preventative and chronic management
- 48% Service integration – primary, specialty, rehabilitation
- 47% Equality of access – women and children, people of determination, low income
To support these rankings, our experts provided several narrative observations:
“Large investment going into genetics, AI and personalised medicine will see huge strides taken over the next few years that will improve human health. Lower down the scale is where human factors are involved where the systems need to retrain and repurpose resources, which will involve massive undertakings and take time for new processes and culture to change.” Steve Moore
“Which lens are we looking through? Europe wants to meet the above but has limited investment power. Neither US nor China will put women and children high on their agenda and the level of monetisation of health care massively distorts outcomes. Africa had more basic healthcare problems to address. Asia is where we see mega trends emerge, and the picture is fragmented.” Catherine Spinou
“All items reflect the general movement in healthcare. The speed of change will be different in all markets.” Adrian Hunter
“Budgets have to be rationed heavily in the future.” John Makepeace
With ‘Personalized medicine’ identified as the top megatrend, we provide further context below on this issue – in the forum of an edited extract from the original article:
- Genetic information held within patient records, to be factored into diagnostic and treatment plans by any healthcare provider.
- Artificial intelligence used to optimize each element of the treatment plan based on quantification of the expected benefits and risks (expected reactions to specific active ingredients, including the dosage and frequency, and calibrating the impact of drug combinations).
- Precision treatments for diabetes and cancer, especially for patients who have been non-responsive to ‘standard’ interventions or pathways.
- Stem cell advancement – with advances in the science there are signs that stem cells, especially bone marrow and adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells will show hope for neuro regenerative treatment and possibly a long-term solution to Parkinson’s, Dementia, Motor Neurone disease and the connectivity in spinal injury rehabilitation. There is still a need for large clinical trials to validate promising research.
Research topic #2:
Healthcare marketing
In May 2026, Greybeard Healthcare published an article ‘What really drives patient decisions across the healthcare journey’, which can be accessed on our website (please click the ‘Insight’ tab).
This identified the four most consequential shifts in hospital marketing success factors, based on the experience of the author.
Greybeard’s experts ranked them as follows:
- 67% Personalized preventative care – reminders, prompts, educational content
- 63% Omnichannel patient journey – digital entry points, digital control platforms
- 56% Content-led engagement – short form videos, webinars, podcasts, myth-busting
- 51% Execution discipline – from campaigns to continuous engagement
To support these rankings, our experts provided several narrative observations:
“I believe content-led engagement and continuous engagement models will see extensive change over the next 3–5 years, as healthcare communication is already rapidly shifting towards short-form video, podcasts, webinars, myth-busting content, and community-led education. The rise of AI-powered content creation tools will further accelerate this trend, making personalised, scalable, and always-on engagement more accessible and likely to become the norm across healthcare and wellbeing sectors. In contrast, while personalised preventative care through reminders, prompts, and educational content will continue to evolve, progress may be more limited due to ongoing challenges around data integration, trust, privacy concerns, and whether people feel comfortable relying on technology to support more personal aspects of their healthcare journey.” Saira Arif
“Predictive analysis in population health will be what emerging healthcare will look like.” Amena Malik
“AI can target information very precisely if it has the data. Use of data will become a huge issue.” John Makepeace
“AI-driven customer journeys and workflows will lead the new age patient care.” “AI-driven customer journeys and workflows will lead the new age patient care.” Sandeep Kumar
With ‘Personalized preventative care’ identified as the top megatrend, we provide further context below on this issue – in the forum of an edited extract from the original article:
- Healthcare organizations are moving away from broad-based messaging toward data-driven, personalized communication. The increasing use of CRM systems, behavioral data, and AI-powered predictive analytics enables audience segmentation based on patient history, behavior, and risk profiles, allowing for more targeted outreach.
- Personalized reminders, preventive health prompts, and educational content can significantly influence patient behavior. Timely and empathetic communication can often be enough to encourage preventive action, whether that is booking a screening, following up on a condition, or adopting healthier behaviors. Patient expectations are now formed by their experiences of personalization in other sectors, leading 80% to “want or expect” guidance in messages to be personalized (with 36% of hospitals referencing “lack of personalization” as a major communications challenge)
Research topic #3:
Healthcare PMO essentials
In May 2026, Greybeard Healthcare published an article ‘4 essentials when using a Programme Management Office (PMO) to deliver hospital transformation’, which can be accessed on our website (please click the ‘Insight’ tab).
This identified four factors that drive PMO effectiveness, based on the experience of the author.
Greybeard’s experts ranked them as follows:
- 85%: Data – Setting priorities based on evidence
- 81%: Ambition – A clear vision of what a better future looks like
- 78%: Collaboration – Harnessing the knowledge and skills of the entire workforce
- 74%: Momentum – Demonstrating impact from month one
To support these rankings, our experts provided several narrative observations:
“I rated ambition, collaboration, and data as very high because meaningful healthcare transformation requires a clear long-term vision, evidence-based decision making, and strong collaboration across the workforce to create sustainable and impactful change. I also rated momentum highly, as demonstrating visible impact early on is important for building trust, engagement, and confidence in new initiatives, particularly within fast-evolving and resource-pressured healthcare environments.” Saira Arif
“This was a very helpful article. Clearly based on knowledge, experience and learning to distil key takeaways and best practice.” Sarah Wilkins
“I think more emphasis needs to be put on workforce capacity and workforce capability.” Amena Malik
“The NHS needs a giant PMO office.” John Makepeace
With ‘Data – Setting priorities based on evidence’ identified as the top essential, we provide further context below on this issue – in the forum of an edited extract from the original article:
- As the fourth ‘essential’ of a strong PMO, I am highlighting its commitment to evidence-based decision-making. The PMO will lose its authority if it sides with one advocate in a live debate due, for example, to that person’s seniority or loudness of voice. Instead, the PMO should insist that priorities are set based on evidence.
- Sometimes, the PMO can help to assemble that evidence; on other occasions, it can conduct due diligence on the data to validate its authenticity, or act as the impartial arbiter of what it means. In all cases, it should use its independence from operational responsibility to ensure the evidence is obtained from the most irreproachable sources, is up-to-date, and is being faithfully represented. In most projects, there will be a multi-stage methodology; and in such cases, the first phase is often focused on evidence gathering, pulling together material from multiple sources – some may be publicly available, others may be from comparable hospital facilities and other operators willing to share data on a restricted basis for mutual benefit and in the public interest.
- A PMO which observes John Adams adage that “Facts are stubborn things … our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions cannot alter the state of facts and evidence” is performing a valued service not just to the integrity of its own projects, but to the modernization of the wider hospital culture into one able to take rapid, informed decisions across its entire operation.
In closing:
Greybeard would like to thank our team of Experts for their participation in this survey, and we look forward to their further insights as the journey into this ‘new era of healthcare’ accelerates.
