United States – October 27, 2026 -- Healthcare faces a projected shortage of up to 3.2 million workers by 2026, and IntelePeer argues that gap is making per-seat enterprise software economically obsolete as buyers shift from purchasing tools to purchasing completed work.
Per-seat pricing fails when healthcare cannot fill the seats
Enterprise software has been priced per seat, per user, per license for two decades, on the assumption that the human is the engine and software makes that engine faster. The IntelePeer analysis says that assumption breaks where labor is the bottleneck. Administrative roles are among the hardest to fill and retain, according to the Mercer / Oliver Wyman projection it cites, and wage inflation is compressing margins.
Tools bought to speed up front-desk staff, billing specialists and call handlers deliver nothing when those positions are vacant. The consequences are unanswered calls, missed appointments and uncollected balances.
Buyers are shifting from software to outcomes such as scheduled appointments and processed claims
The market is moving from "scheduling software" to "scheduled appointments," and from revenue cycle platforms to processed claims. Venture capital calls this model Service-as-Software. Citing Andreessen Horowitz, the analysis puts the enterprise software addressable market at around $900 billion, against global labor spend on sales, support, administration and billing that runs into the tens of trillions. Software that delivers the service itself draws on the labor budget rather than the IT budget.
Agentic AI takes goals instead of steps and handles exceptions itself
First-generation generative AI co-pilots drafted emails or summarized records, but a human still had to send or sign off. Agentic AI works from a defined goal, such as filling a doctor's schedule for next Tuesday or collecting an outstanding balance. It determines the steps, selects tools, executes actions and handles exceptions. IntelePeer Chief AI Officer Mark Langanki described the moment as an "inflection point" that comes once or twice in a generation.
Governance and integration layers, not foundation models, hold the value
The analysis treats foundation models as commoditizing infrastructure and cites one tech CEO calling them "the new disk drives." Value moves to the application layer: compliance-ready guardrails, integration with systems of record, auditable analytics and escalation paths when risk rises. For healthcare buyers and investors, the question becomes which system can execute work inside their EHR, scheduling policies and compliance requirements, and leave a record that withstands board and regulatory scrutiny.
IntelePeer's SmartAgent answers calls, schedules appointments, collects balances and documents interactions without staff involvement. SmartOffice extends execution across enterprise workflows, and SmartAnalytics supplies the governance and audit layer.