Dallas – October 06, 2026 -- Hospitals with greater digital investment showed stronger patient experience in 11 of 12 technology measures, according to new research from AMN Healthcare covering more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals. Of 96 statistical tests run across the dataset, 32 produced significant results, and 30 of those favored hospitals with higher digital intensity.
The findings appear in a new white paper, 'AI Starts With What Leaders Build,' based on an analysis of 2,089 hospitals for efficiency and 2,185 hospitals for patient experience, supplemented by interviews with 12 senior executives leading digital transformation initiatives. Efficiency was measured through Medicare Spending per Beneficiary, while patient experience was tracked via Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data.
Enterprise systems deliver the most consistent performance gains
Electronic health record, enterprise resource planning and revenue-cycle platforms were positively associated with hospital performance in six of eight analyses, with performance differences ranging from 26% to 38%. These established systems produced the study's most consistent associations with better outcomes.
AI adoption remains limited and its benefits are inconsistent
Approximately 12% of hospitals in the dataset had a measurable AI or predictive-analytics footprint. AI showed a positive association with patient experience across the full sample, but that link disappeared when hospitals were compared within similar size groups, and AI was not associated with better performance in any efficiency analysis.
"Our research points to a meaningful relationship between digital investment and the patient experience, but technology alone does not explain the result,