The State of Healthcare 2026 Staying Ahead of the Swell — and Learning How to Ride the Wave

Every year I write a “state of the industry” style report. In the past, it was mostly aimed at practitioners.

This year I’m writing it for anyone paying attention — patients, clients, and practitioners — because what’s unfolding right now is changing the whole playing field for all of us.

This is a look ahead at what we can expect in 2026… and how to stay ahead of the swell instead of getting knocked around by it.

The AI Moment (and What It’s Actually Doing)

There’s no question: AI is a game-changer.

Patients are using it like a supercharged Doctor Google — and in many cases, getting faster, clearer information than ever before.

Practitioners are using it to streamline workflows, analyze data, draft notes, and organize protocols more efficiently.

All of that is real.

But here’s the part that matters most:

Information alone does not create transformation.

AI can surface possibilities. It can summarize research. It can generate ideas.

But it can’t replace discernment.
It can’t see nuance.
It can’t feel the human in front of you.

Which means 2026 will belong to the people who learn how to use information well… not just collect more of it.

From Top-Down Medicine to Co-Creation

Years ago, I read a piece in the final published Whole Earth Catalog that stuck with me.

It described a shift away from industrial medicine — a top-down model where there’s a doctor, there’s a patient, and the doctor tells the patient what to do — toward information-based medicine, where patients become active participants in their care.

And it went a step further.

It predicted that as information becomes widely accessible, healthcare practitioners would increasingly function as guides — almost like project managers — helping people navigate nuance, context, and their unique situation, not just handing down orders.

That was written decades ago.

And it’s not a prediction anymore. It’s the moment we’re in.

Functional medicine has been preparing people for this for years — the idea that patients are co-creators, not passive recipients… and that healing isn’t “a pill for every ill,” it’s a process that requires participation.

AI didn’t create this shift.

AI just brought us fully into it.

When Technology Stops Mattering

This may sound counterintuitive, but it’s one of the most important truths of 2026:

There is a point where technology stops being the answer.

Not because technology is bad — but because information without discernment doesn’t turn into wisdom.

Songwriter Greg Brown captured this perfectly:

“Stuff with no knowledge is never enough.”

That’s the trap of over-technology.

We can generate more information than ever — but information without context can still leave people confused, overwhelmed, or stuck.

We see this all the time:

• Patients come in with labs run elsewhere that no one knows how to interpret.

• People show up with AI-generated protocols that look impressive on paper… but don’t fit the person.

• Genetic (PGX) reports identify “best-fit” medications… but ignore the person’s real-time physiology.

Here’s the truth:

Labs don’t treat people.
Genetics don’t tell the whole story.
AI doesn’t see nervous systems.

A medication that looks ideal genomically may be completely wrong for someone who is already wired, depleted, inflamed, or dysregulated — especially in antidepressant/anxiety categories where neurotransmitter direction matters, but so does the person’s current state.

This is the handoff point:

Technology can give you data.
But human discernment turns data into a meaningful plan.

The Return to What Was Always There

At the same time technology is accelerating, something else is happening.

People are pulling back.

Less screen time. More time outside.
More interest in simpler rhythms. More desire to feel grounded again.

I’m seeing it across generations — a renewed interest in the lifestyle and music of earlier decades, and a real hunger for something that feels more real than the endless scroll.

But it goes deeper than nostalgia.

This is a return to self.

A desire to hear one’s own inner guidance again.
A longing for health that feels embodied and sustainable — not just optimized.

People are looking for:

• fewer pills

• more lifestyle

• more agency

• more meaning

This isn’t a trend.

It’s a correction.

The Nervous System: The Next Frontier

If there is one place functional medicine is heading next, it’s here.

The nervous system is the body’s internal operating system.

It determines:

• how someone responds to stress

• how they interpret information

• how deeply interventions actually land

• whether real healing sticks

And here’s what most people miss — and where the shift really happens:

A person’s story is just as important as their health history — not just their labs.

Because story shapes the nervous system over decades.

Pressure. Responsibility. Trauma. Identity. Survival patterns… all of it grooves the nervous system like a record player. If the groove is deep enough, the body keeps replaying the same pattern even when the mind “knows better.”

You can’t supplement your way out of that.
You can’t protocol your way around it.
And AI can’t see it.

The next phase of functional medicine isn’t just stress management.

It’s nervous system redirection and rewiring — helping people build the capacity to actually hold the health they’re chasing.

What This Means for 2026

For practitioners:

AI will make your work faster and more efficient.

But your greatest value will be:

• discernment

• pattern recognition

• presence

• coaching the human being (not just managing the data)

I’ve said this for years:

It’s beyond the labs.
Beyond the protocols.
Beyond hormones.
Beyond peptides.
Beyond the pharmacy counter.
Beyond the exam room.

And that “beyond” is exactly where healthcare is heading in 2026.

For patients:

You now have access to better information than ever before.

But information must be personalized — to your history, your physiology, your nervous system, and your story.

Healing is no longer something done to you.

It’s something done with you.

The Threshold Year

This isn’t about band-aids.

It’s not about piling on supplements or chasing hacks.
It’s not about cold plunges, breathing routines, or the gym as an avoidance strategy.

Those can be useful — but only when they’re integrated into the right context.

2026 is a threshold year.

A year of evolving:

• health

• practice

• impact

And the people who thrive won’t be the ones with the most information.

They’ll be the ones who know how to turn information into wisdom, structure, and lived change.

If this feels like the wave you’ve been sensing, don’t overthink it — just reply.
No booking links in here. Just tell me what line hit you, what you’re working on, or what you want 2026 to look like… and we’ll take it from there.

P.S. Patients, practitioners, or “somewhere in between” — reply with what you’re navigating and I’ll point you in the right direction.