HIMSS26 Recap: 
Addressing the Trust Gap in Healthcare Technology

If there was one consistent theme at HIMSS this year, it wasn’t just innovation—it was overload.

Healthcare leaders are being bombarded. An explosion of AI claims, bold promises and crowded vendor messaging has created a level of noise that’s becoming hard to navigate. In conversation after conversation, one sentiment stood out: uncertainty leading to indecision. Even skepticism. One CIO put it bluntly—some vendors are overpromising to the point where trust is eroding.

That’s the environment healthcare organizations are operating in today. Not a lack of options—but a lack of clarity.

And RTLS is no exception.

Healthcare leaders are being asked to evaluate more location technologies than ever, each claiming simplicity, accuracy and meaningful outcomes. But in real-world environments, those promises don’t always hold up.

Take Bluetooth^® Low Energy (BLE). It absolutely has a role. It’s cost-effective, scalable and well-suited for use cases like asset visibility and staff duress. But on its own, it can't provide the kind on room-certain, location reliability needed by many healthcare workers, simply due to the nature of the technology. 

At Midmark RTLS, we're taking a different approach—one grounded in what works, not hype.

We don’t believe a single technology can solve every problem. Instead, we apply the right level of precision based on the need.

Our hybrid BLE and Infrared (IR) RTLS model brings together:

— BLE for scalable coverage and communication backhaul

— Wireless IR for rapid deployment of off-the-shelf, battery-powered high-accuracy zones—zero latency, room-certain precision

— Wired IR for environments requiring the highest level of reliability without batteries

All unified through hybrid badges and tags that seamlessly leverage both technologies.

The result isn’t just another promise—it’s a system designed to work in the complexity of real healthcare environments, not just in controlled demos.

At a conference full of noise, the message we heard—and the one we’re committed to—is simple:

Healthcare doesn’t need more promises. It needs solutions healthcare leaders can trust.

Watch as Midmark RTLS Senior Director HT Snowday explains our hybrid model in an interview with Healthcare IT Today, while also providing an outlook on AI + RTLS that makes practical sense, not promises.

_{Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.}