# Technical Debt * **Definition:** The implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer, particularly in the context of healthcare technology, where it can lead to inefficiencies, higher costs, safety concerns, and increased risk of outages and downtime. * **Taxonomy:** CTO Topics / Technical Debt ## News * Selected news on the topic of **Technical Debt**, for healthcare technology leaders * 1K news items are in the system for this topic * Posts have been filtered for tech and healthcare-related keywords | Date | Title | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | 5/20/2025 | [**SAP retools its cloud-based ERP to ease migrations - Yahoo Finance**](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sap-retools-cloud-based-erp-151834473.html) | [[Yahoo Finance]] | | 5/18/2025 | [**Scaling in HealthTech is fundamentally different from traditional tech… - Kevin McDonnell - LinkedIn**](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kevinmcdonnell_scaling-in-healthtech-is-fundamentally-different-activity-7329770295760723969-mtbI) | [[Linkedin]] | | 5/15/2025 | [**Software engineering-native AI models have arrived: What Windsurf's SWE-1 means for technical decision-makers**](https://venturebeat.com/ai/software-engineering-native-ai-models-have-arrived-what-windsurfs-swe-1-means-for-technical-decision-makers/) | [[VentureBeat]] | | 3/10/2025 | [**Key Questions For Tackling Technical Debt**](https://www.forrester.com/blogs/key-questions-for-tackling-technical-debt/) | [[Forrester]] | | 3/4/2025 | [**Adaptable, enterprise AI needed to meet demands of evolving healthcare landscape**](https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/adaptable-enterprise-ai-needed-meet-demands-evolving-healthcare-landscape) | [[Healthcare IT News]] | | 2/21/2025 | [**ViVE 2025: The Crossroads of Digital Health Innovation and Realities**](https://medcitynews.com/2025/02/vive-2025-the-crossroads-of-digital-health-innovation-and-realities/) | [[MedCity News]] | | 2/14/2025 | [**Engineering a Healthcare Analytics Center of Excellence (ACoE): A Strategic Framework for ...**](https://blogs.perficient.com/2025/02/14/engineering-a-healthcare-analytics-center-of-excellence-acoe-a-strategic-framework-for-innovation/) | [[Perficient Healthcare]] | | 2/6/2025 | [**Improving the patient experience can pay dividends you may not expect**](https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/improving-patient-experience-can-pay-dividends-you-may-not-expect) | [[Healthcare IT News]] | | 2/5/2025 | [**Managed IT Services for Healthcare: Choosing the Right Partner**](https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2025/02/managed-it-services-for-healthcare-perfcon) | [[HealthTech Magazine]] | | 2/4/2025 | [**Information Services Market to Grow by USD 182.8 Billion by 2029, Use of Services for Risk ...**](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/information-services-market-to-grow-by-usd-182-8-billion-by-2029--use-of-services-for-risk-management-boosts-market-ai-powered-market-evolution-report---technavio-302367701.html) | [[PR Newswire]] | | 1/18/2025 | [**Weekly Roundup - January 18, 2025 - Healthcare IT Today**](https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2025/01/18/weekly-roundup-january-18-2025/) | [[Healthcare IT Today]] | | 1/9/2025 | [**Removing Technical Debt Supports Healthcare Cybersecurity and Incident Response**](https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2025/01/removing-technical-debt-supports-healthcare-cybersecurity-and-incident-response) | [[HealthTech Magazine]] | | 12/23/2024 | [**3 Questions to Ask Before Modernizing Healthcare IT Infrastructure**](https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2024/12/3-questions-ask-modernizing-healthcare-it-infrastructure) | [[HealthTech Magazine]] | | 12/14/2024 | [**The Future of Production: Scaling Innovation with Hybrid Computing, AI, and Automation**](https://www.cioreview.com/news/the-future-of-production-scaling-innovation-with-hybrid-computing-ai-and-automation-nid-40640-cid-175.html) | [[CIO Review]] | | 12/11/2024 | [**Digital Transformation's Hidden Challenge: Technical Debt At Scale**](https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/12/12/digital-transformations-hidden-challenge-technical-debt-at-scale/) | [[Forbes]] | | 12/1/2024 | [**Managing Technical Debt in Healthcare: A Guide for Hospitals and Health Systems**](https://hitconsultant.net/2024/12/02/managing-technical-debt-in-healthcare-a-guide-for-hospitals/) | [[HIT Consultant]] | | 11/19/2024 | [**Technical Debt is Stifling Healthcare Innovation**](https://www.healthcareittoday.com/2024/11/19/technical-debt-is-stifling-healthcare-innovation/) | [[Healthcare IT Today]] | | 10/30/2024 | [**According to Cloud Security Alliance Survey More than Half of Organizations Cite Technical Debt as Top Hurdle to Identity System Modernization**](http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241030405326/en/According-to-Cloud-Security-Alliance-Survey-More-than-Half-of-Organizations-Cite-Technical-Debt-as-Top-Hurdle-to-Identity-System-Modernization/?feedref=JjAwJuNHiystnCoBq_hl-Q-tiwWZwkcswR1UZtV7eGe24xL9TZOyQUMS3J72mJlQ7fxFuNFTHSunhvli30RlBNXya2izy9YOgHlBiZQk2LOzmn6JePCpHPCiYGaEx4DL1Rq8pNwkf3AarimpDzQGuQ==) | [[Business Wire]] | | 9/26/2024 | [**What Is Technical Debt, and How Is Healthcare Managing It?**](https://healthtechmagazine.net/article/2024/09/what-is-technical-debt-how-healthcare-managing-it-perfcon) | [[HealthTech Magazine]] | | 9/23/2024 | [**Baylor Scott plan to eliminate technical debt**](https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/baylor-scott-whites-plan-to-eliminate-technical-debt.html) | [[Beckers Hospital Review]] | | 9/10/2024 | [**Innovation Paralysis: How Legacy Systems and Technical Debt Are Choking Enterprise Growth**](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/innovation-paralysis-legacy-systems-technical-120000864.html) | [[Yahoo Finance]] | | 9/10/2024 | [**Innovation Paralysis: How Legacy Systems and Technical Debt Are Choking Enterprise Growth**](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/innovation-paralysis-how-legacy-systems-and-technical-debt-are-choking-enterprise-growth-302243518.html) | [[PR Newswire]] | | 8/20/2024 | [**Is AI going to reduce or increase technical debt? How, why, and what are the implications?**](https://www.fastcompany.com/91174590/is-ai-going-to-reduce-or-increase-technical-debt-how-why-and-what-are-the-implications) | [[Fast Company]] | | 7/8/2024 | [**From Technical Debt to Technical Wellness: A Guide for State and Local Agencies**](https://statetechmagazine.com/article/2024/07/technical-debt-technical-wellness-guide-state-and-local-agencies-perfcon) | statetechmagazine.com | | 6/24/2024 | [**Software Engineering Challenges In The Age Of AI: The Role Of Strong Engineering Leadership**](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2024/06/24/software-engineering-challenges-in-the-age-of-ai-the-role-of-strong-engineering-leadership/) | [[Forbes]] | ## Topic Overview (Some LLM-derived content — please confirm with above primary sources) ### Key Players - **Dustin Thostenson**: Expert discussing strategies for recognizing and addressing technical debt in software development. - **Prasanna Ganesan**: Founder and CEO at Machinify, discusses the challenges organizations face with technical debt. - **Jeffrey Olson**: An expert stressing the importance of reducing technical debt to foster innovation and the adoption of advanced technologies. - **Dave Lamar**: Chief Growth Officer of MediQuant, highlights the pervasive issue of technical debt in healthcare organizations. - **vFunction**: A company focused on reducing technical debt through its architectural observability platform, which analyzes applications for unnecessary dependencies. - **Mindy Herman and Jasmine Fransen**: Authors discussing the challenges of maintaining medical technologies and the implications of technical debt in healthcare. - **Onymos**: A company that provides insights into the challenges faced by IT teams in maintaining interconnected enterprise applications and highlights the impact of technical debt. - **Pega**: A company emphasizing the need for modernizing healthcare IT to reduce technical debt. - **Baylor Scott & White Health**: Recognized elevated technical debt as a critical issue following growth and consolidation of multiple hospitals, emphasizing the need for rationalizing and modernizing technology. - **Virtusa Corporation**: A digital engineering services provider focusing on managing technical debt through strategic partnerships. - **Adrian Serle**: CEO of Quality Clouds, emphasizes the importance of governance solutions in managing technical debt. - **Renown Health**: A healthcare organization focusing on stabilizing and modernizing its technology infrastructure to manage technical debt effectively. - **Scott Ragsdale**: A health IT influencer emphasizing the vulnerabilities of healthcare organizations due to legacy systems and technical debt. - **DMI**: Offers Application Development and Modernization solutions aimed at resolving technical debt and optimizing application portfolios. - **Dataiku**: A company collaborating with Deloitte to assist enterprises in migrating from legacy systems to modern AI platforms, thereby reducing technical debt. - **Empower AI**: A company awarded a task order by the U.S. Army to modernize network infrastructure, addressing technical debt by updating legacy systems. - **Quality Clouds**: Specializes in SaaS governance solutions, particularly for Salesforce and ServiceNow, helping organizations manage technical debt effectively. - **Phoenix Children's Hospital**: Focused on in-house software development to create tailored solutions for pediatric care, avoiding technical debt through clear project exit plans. - **CloudScale365**: Introduced Co-Managed IT Service to assist organizations in managing technical debt and achieving business objectives cost-effectively. - **OutSystems**: A low-code application development platform that aims to reduce technical debt through automation and AI-driven software development. ### Partnerships and Collaborations - **Virtusa and Quality Clouds**: A strategic partnership to enhance digital operations and service delivery by managing technical debt effectively. - **Cognizant and IBM**: Launched a FinOps Center of Excellence to help enterprises manage complexity and reduce operational risks associated with technical debt. - **Dantech and AWS**: Dantech partners with AWS to provide advanced technology solutions that streamline operations and reduce technical debt. - **GFT**: Partnering with tier-1 banks in Latin America to eliminate technical debt and automate processes through AI Impact. - **Dataiku and Deloitte**: Collaborating to launch an analytics modernization program that helps organizations migrate from legacy systems to enhance AI capabilities and reduce technical debt. - **Baylor Scott & White Health and Epic**: Leveraging strategic partnerships to streamline technology and enhance operational efficiency while managing technical debt. - **Government of Canada and SAS**: A seven-year agreement to streamline software management and reduce costs, indirectly addressing technical debt through improved data strategies. - **OutSystems and Malaysian Government**: Partnering to support digital transformation initiatives, consolidating legacy applications to enhance innovation capabilities. - **VeraScore and Vala AI**: Acquisition aimed at integrating Vala AI's tools to eliminate technical debt and enhance financial health management. - **MarginEdge and BlueSnap**: A partnership aimed at streamlining billing and payment processing, which is expected to reduce technical debt and accelerate growth. - **Children's Hospital Colorado**: Collaborating with analytics teams to enhance data visibility and reduce technical debt through improved data governance. - **NEC and Aetion**: Collaboration to utilize Japanese electronic health records for improving drug development and healthcare decision-making. - **Ascendion and Healthcare Providers**: Ascendion collaborates with healthcare providers to implement its Pathfinder solution, resulting in significant financial improvements. - **UPMC and Vanderbilt Health**: Joined a digital consortium with Aegis Ventures to develop digital solutions for healthcare, focusing on shared challenges. - **nCino and Sandbox Banking**: This partnership aims to streamline integration processes for banks and credit unions, enhancing operational efficiency. ### Innovations, Trends, and Initiatives - **Technical Wellness**: A new approach emphasizing preventive measures to address legacy technology issues before they escalate, as highlighted by Deloitte. - **Cyber Risk Management Strategies**: Advocated by healthcare experts to address vulnerabilities associated with technical debt in medical devices. - **GFT Technologies**: Introduced AI Impact 1.0, a suite of tools designed to enhance efficiency in the software development life cycle and eliminate technical debt. - **Low-Code Platforms**: Emerging technologies like DataParQ are designed to reduce reliance on technical resources, thereby minimizing technical debt. - **AI Impact**: GFT's initiative to improve software development efficiency and reduce technical debt through AI tools. - **Application Modernization**: Healthcare organizations are prioritizing application modernization to improve security, reliability, and scalability, addressing technical debt. - **Low-code Development Platforms**: Tools that enable quicker application development, potentially reducing technical debt by allowing faster iterations and updates. - **Governance and Compliance**: Organizations like Renown Health are establishing governance frameworks to manage new technologies and mitigate risks associated with technical debt. - **Generative AI**: Emerging technology that requires robust data management to mitigate technical debt and enhance data quality for effective implementation. - **Mentor**: OutSystems' new digital worker aimed at transforming the software development lifecycle and reducing technical debt. - **Shift to Modular Systems**: Healthcare organizations are moving towards breaking legacy systems into modular components to minimize technical debt and improve integration. - **OutSystems' Mentor**: A digital worker that automates app generation and quality checks, addressing challenges in software development and reducing technical debt. - **AI in Software Development**: AI technologies, particularly large language models, are being utilized to automate development tasks, enhancing code quality and reducing technical debt. - **Pega GenAI Blueprint**: Introduced AI-driven capabilities to expedite the modernization of legacy systems, reducing technical debt. - **ActiveState**: Launched an end-to-end software supply chain security solution to enhance visibility and control over open source usage, addressing technical debt. - **AI and Automation**: Healthcare organizations are encouraged to adopt AI and automation to streamline operations and reduce technical debt. - **Low Code Platforms**: Low code app modernization is being utilized to enhance business agility and reduce technical debt by streamlining development processes. - **AI in Healthcare**: Healthcare leaders are increasingly recognizing AI as a critical component of comprehensive solutions rather than just a product feature, emphasizing its role in addressing technical debt. - **Hybrid Cloud Strategies**: Implementing hybrid cloud solutions can help healthcare organizations manage technical debt while ensuring compliance and performance. ### Challenges and Concerns - **Technical Debt Accumulation**: Results from maintaining outdated solutions, leading to increased costs and hindering innovation. - **Legacy Systems**: Technical debt often arises from reliance on outdated systems, which can hinder innovation and operational resilience. - **Integration Issues**: Challenges in integrating new technologies with existing systems can lead to increased technical debt, necessitating a strategic approach to technology management. - **Rising Technical Debt**: Forrester predicts that 75% of technology decision-makers will experience a rise in technical debt due to rapid AI development. - **Budget Constraints**: Healthcare organizations extend the life of their technology investments due to budget limitations, exacerbating technical debt. - **Unplanned Downtime**: Costing companies approximately $400 billion annually, with technical debt contributing to recovery challenges. - **Regulatory Compliance**: Complex regulations in healthcare lead to temporary and suboptimal technical solutions, contributing to the accumulation of technical debt. - **Cultural Resistance**: Organizations face challenges in shifting culture to prioritize tracking and managing technical debt. - **Economic Pressures**: Healthcare organizations are adopting conservative technology decision-making processes due to economic pressures, which can exacerbate technical debt. - **Resource Allocation**: Allocating resources for refactoring and addressing technical debt is often deprioritized in favor of immediate business goals. - **Healthcare Vulnerability**: The healthcare industry is particularly susceptible to technical debt due to outdated technology, complicating processes and hindering efficiency. - **SaaS Sprawl**: The excessive reliance on multiple SaaS integrations complicates management and can lead to increased technical debt. - **Mergers and Acquisitions**: Increased M&A activity among hospitals exacerbates technical debt challenges, leading to inefficiencies and future costs. - **Healthcare IT Spending**: Nearly 65% of healthcare organizations spend less than the recommended 5% of their revenue on IT, contributing to accumulating technical debt. - **Legacy System Issues**: Patching legacy systems can create barriers to achieving true health IT modernization and may lead to compliance and security vulnerabilities.