AI drives wireless ROI in healthcare but raises security challenges

Healthcare organizations are accelerating wireless infrastructure investments to support use cases such as supply chain and inventory intelligence, AI workloads and remote worker connectivity, Cisco stated in a new report on the state of wireless in healthcare.  

AI is a primary driver of these investments -- more than 62% of surveyed healthcare leaders whose organizations are deploying AI said wireless is strategically critical, compared to 46% for organizations not deploying AI. Additionally, more than 63% of surveyed healthcare organizations that deployed AI reported positive revenue impacts from their wireless investments. 

However, as AI drives wireless investment, it simultaneously amplifies complexity and exacerbates security challenges, Cisco suggested.  

The report, conducted by Sandpiper Research and Insights in November 2025, incorporated interviews with 441 healthcare leaders across 30 markets. The research explored the growing tension that it says could make or break wireless optimization efforts in 2026. 

"The same AI technologies that enable clinical innovation are also creating operational complexity for almost every (98%) healthcare organization with new security threats and intensified competition for talent preventing them from achieving the full benefit of wireless modernization," the report stated. 

Wireless modernization propels growth 

Wireless modernization is the process of upgrading network infrastructure to more advanced wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi 6E and the 6 GHz spectrum. These upgrades support higher device density, increased bandwidth demands and latency requirements that standards like Wi-Fi 5 cannot sustain. 

"Organizations deploying 6 GHz spectrum show measurably higher rates of AI application deployment compared to non-adopters, suggesting that advanced wireless infrastructure is a prerequisite for modern clinical innovation," the report noted. 

Just 15% of healthcare organizations surveyed had deployed Wi-Fi 6E, but an additional 30% plan to roll it out in the next year. 

Healthcare organizations have been steadily increasing their wireless budgets, with 28% of respondents reporting budget increases of over 50% in the past four to five years. About a third of respondents expect similar increases over the next five years. 

Nearly 80% of healthcare organizations that invested in wireless modernization reported improvements in operational efficiency. Additionally, 74% reported increases in employee productivity and improvements in patient engagement. 

AI complicates wireless opportunity and risk 

As healthcare embraces AI, wireless modernization is becoming increasingly crucial to enabling more efficient, effective operations, the report suggested. More than 63% of surveyed healthcare organizations that deployed AI reported positive revenue impacts from their wireless investments. 

However, the report identified a troubling paradox: AI is both enabling clinical innovation and contributing to greater complexity and security challenges.  

As complexity ramps up, more than half of healthcare wireless teams spend most of their time on incident management and reactive troubleshooting, according to the report. 

"This reactive posture creates a self-reinforcing cycle. Complexity drives reactive work. Reactive work demands all available resources and attention. Strategic work, including modernization, training, and certification programs, gets deferred," the report noted. "As modernization delays, complexity persists and often increases. Teams remain trapped, unable to escape the reactive treadmill." 

In addition to AI contributing to increased complexity, healthcare respondents also reported a significant visibility gap, with 90% saying that these gaps impair their ability to effectively troubleshoot Wi-Fi issues. 

"This visibility gap creates a particularly dangerous dynamic in healthcare settings. Wireless networks become scapegoats for problems originating elsewhere," the report stated.   

More than 60% of respondents said that at least 10% of incidents were inaccurately attributed to wireless. 

In addition to the strain on IT teams caused by increased complexity and lower visibility, wireless security threats are also escalating.  

Nearly 90% of survey respondents reported experiencing at least one wireless security incident in the past 12 months, and 70% expect an increase in such incidents over the next two years. These incidents have resulted in losses of more than $1 million for over half of the respondents, in addition to loss of patient trust and potential regulatory consequences. 

AI has emerged as both a solution and a barrier to these issues. Nearly 80% of respondents said they would prefer AI with automation to handle routine wireless operational tasks, which would free up IT teams to work on high-value projects rather than responding to duplicative tickets. However, just 28% of respondents have actually implemented automation for wireless ticket management, demonstrating that there is room to grow. 

"Scaling these benefits across all healthcare organizations would translate into thousands of hours freed for patient care each month. Yet that scaling remains constrained by the very complexity and talent shortages that AIOps implementation would help resolve," the report noted. 

Both wireless modernization and AI have the potential to make clinical and operational workflows more efficient and effective. Healthcare organizations that can address the complexity, security and visibility challenges in each of these realms can reap the full benefits of wireless modernization, the research suggests. 

Jill Hughes has covered health tech news since 2021.