Written by thoughtbot, your expert partner for design and development. https://robots.thoughtbot.com/ 2026-07-30T00:00:00+00:00 thoughtbot Fernando Perales https://thoughtbot.com/blog/new-the-state-of-software-delivery-in-healthcare 2026-07-30T00:00:00+00:00 2026-07-29T17:50:51Z <p>We <a href="https://thoughtbot.com/healthcare-software-delivery-report">surveyed</a> engineering, product, and technology leaders across US healthcare organizations to learn how teams are balancing speed, innovation, and risk.</p> <p>Move fast and break things may have been a popular mantra for startups, but the nature of healthcare software demands no room for breaking things while still moving fast.</p> <p>We commissioned a third-party research firm to survey tech leaders at established healthcare and health tech organizations about the tensions they are experiencing when it comes to software delivery. We wanted to learn what’s working, what isn’t, and what’s next.</p> <p>A few things stood out:</p> <p><img src="https://images.thoughtbot.com/slt89mrdnux8d76peybtxicrwfnl_Section%202%20-%20numbers-%20large.png" alt="68% of respondents struggle to increase delivery velocity without introducing operational risk, and 58% spend more time navigating approvals than building product"></p> <ul> <li> <strong>68%</strong> say speed and risk are in constant tension. When we asked why, we learned that the top blocker isn’t what most teams assume.</li> <li> <strong>58%</strong> report spending more time navigating approvals than actually building product.</li> <li> <strong>94%</strong> of leaders say they’d rather work with a team that ships reliably than one that simply ships fast.</li> </ul> <p>Check out our <a href="https://thoughtbot.com/healthcare-software-delivery-report">(ungated) report</a> to see the stats that jumped out at us. Plus learn how your team compares to the industry average as well as other useful resources.</p> <aside class="related-articles"><h2>If you enjoyed this post, you might also like:</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://thoughtbot.com/blog/merck-developer-portal-case-study">Merck Developer Portal Case Study</a></li> <li><a href="https://thoughtbot.com/blog/thoughtbot-offers-a-new-code-audit-service">thoughtbot offers a new code audit service</a></li> <li><a href="https://thoughtbot.com/blog/delivering-features-faster">Delivering features faster</a></li> </ul></aside>

168 healthcare tech leaders were surveyed on software delivery. 68% say speed and risk are in constant tension. We broke down what's really behind it and what separates innovative teams from the rest.

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