Nearly all healthcare institutions use GenAI and containers, but integration and data security delay scaling.
AI adoption in healthcare is accelerating rapidly: 99 percent of healthcare institutions currently use applications such as chatbots, code copilots, or clinical process automation tools. However, the same study by Nutanix shows that almost as many institutions (96 percent) believe their IT environment is insufficiently secure to broadly support AI. Similar conclusions were reached earlier for the public sector.
The healthcare sector is leading in the use of generative AI. Nevertheless, outdated IT infrastructure poses a significant obstacle. Particularly, the integration of GenAI with existing systems is a challenge, according to 79 percent of respondents. Other bottlenecks include data silos (65 percent) and developing cloud-native applications via containers (59 percent).
Security and Scalability under Pressure
Healthcare institutions indicate that using sensitive patient data in models is a challenge. Although organizations see the benefits of AI for efficiency and automation, data processing through large language models requires a robust approach to data protection and governance. Virtually all respondents acknowledge that their current measures fall short.
The transition of AI applications from development phase to production proves difficult. Organizations indicate that scalability is mainly limited by the legacy infrastructure on which many systems run. This makes targeted investments in modernization essential, according to the report, to responsibly deploy AI on a large scale.
Containerization on the Rise
In addition to GenAI, containers are also seeing increasing adoption. Nearly all healthcare institutions are engaged in “containerizing” applications. This includes Kubernetes and other container platforms that support access to patient and business data in hybrid or multi-cloud environments.
According to the study, 92 percent of the surveyed organizations expect to benefit from the transition to cloud-native applications and containers. Containerization makes it easier to develop new applications and better manage existing workloads. The healthcare sector is increasingly incorporating this technology into its long-term strategy.
The report concludes that the combination of GenAI and containerization offers significant opportunities for healthcare, but fundamental IT modernization remains necessary to implement these technologies safely and at scale.