Disruptive forces: which will impact healthcare marketers most?

As healthcare marketers, it feels like the ground is constantly moving beneath us. We face a crushing pace of change — from the healthcare industry, from the workforce, from consumer expectations, and from emerging technologies. Every week I hear from healthcare marketers who express concern about how to prepare for the future while still delivering on today’s commitments.

“Do I need to learn about blockchain?”
“Should I take a class on Python development?”
“Am I even cut out for this anymore?”

It’s true that we must disrupt ourselves or face unwelcome disruption from outside forces. But we also have to prioritize our energy in the areas most likely to impact our teams. To inform which of these disruptive forces healthcare marketers should focus on, we conducted an analysis of 15 disruptive forces across four dimensions:

• Proximity – How directly is this force expected to impact your team?
• Magnitude – How much of your team’s work is this force expected to impact?
• Maturity – How mature is the development of this force?
• Velocity – How quickly is the impact and development of this force accelerating?

Which disruptive forces are most likely to impact healthcare marketers?

The 2026 Disruptive Forces Scorecard

The data below represents a summary of our analysis, informed by dozens of industry reports and investment trends.

Why do Distrust of Healthcare, AI and Machine Learning, Multiculturalism, Personalization, and Gen Z rise to the top?

Distrust of Healthcare – The Edelman Trust Barometer has tracked a sharp, sustained decline in confidence across healthcare companies, media, government, and NGOs. Trust in accurate health reporting has fallen 21 points in the U.S. in just five years, to only 35% of Americans. Fear of the politicization of healthcare has risen 12% in a single year. As healthcare marketers, these accelerating shifts in consumer attitudes diminish our ability to reach and influence patients across every channel.

AI and Machine Learning – According to Ad Age, nearly half of marketers already describe AI as integral to their skill set, with applications spanning copywriting, campaign optimization, customer relationship building, and creative development. The velocity here is undeniable: job postings requiring AI fluency have surged, and major enterprises are building AI training programs at scale.

Multiculturalism – The U.S. is undergoing a demographic transformation that has no historical precedent, and healthcare organizations that fail to reflect that shift in their marketing will increasingly find themselves speaking to a population that doesn’t see itself in the message. Census data shows the Hispanic/Latino population share grew more than any other group between 2010 and 2022, increasing 3.1 percentage points to 41.5%, and that growth is concentrated in the exact markets where health systems are competing hardest for patients. It’s possible that new immigration policy will slow this disruptive force, and we will keep an eye on the data for next year.

Personalization – Research from McKinsey and Experian consistently shows that 83% of consumers expect personalized experiences within moments or hours, yet most healthcare organizations are still delivering generic communications that don’t reflect individual needs, preferences, or histories. The gap between expectation and delivery is the opportunity. This force touches virtually every team and every channel: personalization capabilities now extend to digital out-of-home, email, paid media, web experiences, and beyond.

The Rise of Gen Z – Gen Z simultaneously entering the system as new patients managing their own care for the first time, becoming the primary decision-makers for their children’s health, stepping into caretaker roles for aging parents, and covering the largest percent of new entrants into the healthcare workforce. They are relevant across virtually every healthcare service line and specialty, and their influence will continue to grow over the next decade. At the same time, Gen Z are among the most marketing-skeptical of all generations, and we must shift our practices to appeal to their lean toward authenticity and other unique attributes and habits of Gen Z.

The forces at the top of our scorecard aren’t waiting for healthcare marketing to catch up. Distrust is already shaping how patients receive our messages. AI is already in the hands of our peers. Gen Z is already making healthcare decisions. The question isn’t whether these forces will impact your team, it’s whether you’ll be ready when they do. We hope this analysis gives you a clearer sense of where to focus your energy, and the confidence to deprioritize what doesn’t make the cut.