HLTH 2025 affirmed that the healthcare industry has moved past debating digital promise to strategically executing on a future built on proven outcomes—anchored by AI, next-generation partnerships, and measurable value. Three core themes emerged from the conference, reinforced by Welldoc’s presence on the main stage:
1. AI is Operational—Trust Must Be the Foundation for Scale
AI is no longer futuristic; it’s an operational reality, and the conversation has shifted from possibility to responsibility. As healthcare organizations scale AI, trust, governance, and security are the essential building blocks.
In the fireside chat, “The Blueprint for Health AI: Building a Real-World Foundation for Today and Beyond,” featuring Anand Iyer, PhD, MBA (Chief AI Officer, Welldoc) and Mike Sanky (VP, Healthcare & Life Sciences GTM, Databricks), a clear mandate was established:
- Fundamentals First: AI requires a governed platform where diverse data—member-generated, outreach, pharmacy, and billing—can co-exist securely in meta layers.
- Trust as a Chain: Rigorous security and governance form a chain of trust from data to end-user, ensuring transparency and accountability.
- AI’s Role: Welldoc’s AI acts as the “Google Maps for your health,” offering real-time guidance for members and treatment optimization for providers. Predictive modeling, such as continuous glucose forecasting, showcases how AI can drive proactive, connected care.
2. The GLP-1 Revolution Demands Integrated Care
The rise of GLP-1 therapies is reshaping care delivery and economics—but success requires a holistic approach that integrates medication, digital health, and care models.
In the panel “Buy Now, Weigh Less Later,” featuring Anand Iyer, PhD, MBA (Welldoc), Bethanie Stein, PharmD (CenterWell/Humana’s Pharmacy Business), Demetri Karagas (Thirty Madison), and Laura Jensen (GoodRx), moderated by Madison Mueller (Bloomberg), the discussion centered on sustainability:
- Winning Formula: Real results come from GLP-1s + digital health + care model
- Example in Action: Welldoc powers the Lilly Health™ Personalized Health & Medicine Platform* (Lilly Health app), supporting individuals prescribed incretin therapies like Zepbound® (tirzepatide)** or Mounjaro® (tirzepatide)** with medication tracking, device connectivity, and personalized coaching for cardiometabolic health.
- Ecosystem Alignment: Long-term success depends on alignment between manufacturers, payers, and pharmacies—anchored on outcomes, safety, and adherence. Digital support is the non-negotiable link between therapy and transformation.
3. Centering the Human Element Through Efficiency Gains
Amid workforce shortages and clinician burnout, technology’s role is clear: it must lighten the load, not add to it. The focus is shifting toward tools that create real relief for care teams while enhancing compassion in care delivery.
- Mandate: New solutions must meaningfully reduce administrative drag and cognitive burden.
- Value: The most exciting advancements are those that empower clinicians and patients alike—helping people feel supported, efficient, and able to focus on what matters most: human connection.
Actionable Next Steps: Imperatives for Healthcare Leaders
HLTH 2025 signaled a mature market where success is defined by execution and measurable outcomes, not just digital promise. This provided the framework for three critical imperatives shared by Welldoc’s CRO, Simon Salgado, outlining the roadmap for industry buyers:
- Benchmark AI Partners on Clinical Validation
Stop evaluating AI based on novelty; start evaluating based on clinical rigor. Your next step should be confirming that proposed AI partners possess validated deployments (like Welldoc’s FDA clearances). This immediately filters out hype and mitigates the clinical and regulatory risk associated with unproven solutions.
- Mandate ROI Modeling for Therapeutic Spend
For costly, high-impact therapies like GLP-1s, measurable ROI is non-negotiable. Decision-makers must demand partners who integrate the digital adherence layer necessary to guarantee sustained patient engagement. If a digital tool can’t prove it maximizes the efficacy of your therapeutic spend, it’s a liability, not an asset.
- Prioritize Solutions That Drive Immediate Workforce Relief
When vetting new technology, make tangible administrative reduction a mandatory checkpoint. The actionable step is selecting platforms that deliver concrete efficiency gains, directly reducing burnout and allowing clinical staff to shift focus to high-value patient interaction, not data reconciliation.
HLTH 2025 confirmed what many in healthcare have long anticipated: the future isn’t about more technology—it’s about better use of it. The next generation of leaders will define success not by promises of transformation, but by the trust, outcomes, and human connection they can deliver today.
Dive Deeper: Hear From Our CAIO
Want to explore how Welldoc is helping define this next era of responsible, outcomes-driven digital health?
Hear from Anand Iyer, PhD, MBA, Chief AI Officer, on the interplay between rigorous data governance, FDA-cleared AI, and multi-condition support on HLTH’s The Beat podcast.
*Lilly Health™ Personalized Health & Medicine Platform
Lilly Health Personalized Health & Medicine Platform is intended for use as a health management aid for adult patients 18 years or older who have been prescribed Zepbound® (tirzepatide) or
Mounjaro® (tirzepatide).
Lilly Health provides Zepbound and Mounjaro users with medication reminders, medication dose logging, and health data logging.
Lilly Health is not intended to provide treatment decisions or replace the care and advice of a licensed Health Care Provider (HCP). All medical analysis and treatment plans should be performed by a licensed HCP.
** Zepbound® (tirzepatide)
Zepbound is an injectable prescription medicine that may help adults with:
- obesity, or some adults with overweight who has have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off
- moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and obesity to improve their OSA.
It should be used with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.
Zepbound contains tirzepatide and should not be used with other tirzepatide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children.
See www.zepbound.lilly.com for full indications of use.
**Mounjaro® (tirzepatide)
Mounjaro is an injectable prescription medicine that is used along with diet and exercise to improve blood sugar (glucose) in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
It is not known if Mounjaro can be used in people who have had pancreatitis. Mounjaro is not for use in people with type 1 diabetes. It is not known if Mounjaro is safe and effective for use in children under 18 years of age.
See www.mounjaro.lilly.com for full indications of use.
