Legacy systems limit AI progress at hospitals: study

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Canadian healthcare organizations are on the verge of a breakthrough. With modern IT infrastructure and leveraging new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), patient care can improve drastically.

According to SOTI’s latest healthcare report, Healthcare’s Digital Dilemma: Calculated Risks and Hidden Challenges Exposed, 87% of Canadian IT decision makers say AI is used in patient care. Of the 87%, 60% use it to process and analyze medical data, 68% to update patient records, and 41% to diagnose medical conditions.

This year, SOTI’s research extended its scope to cover 1,750 respondents across 11 countries: U.S. (200), Canada (150), Mexico (150), UK (200), Germany (150), France (150), Sweden (150), Netherlands (150), Italy* (150), Spain (150) and Australia (150). The survey was completed between January and March 2025 by IT decision makers for healthcare organizations.

“While AI adoption continues to grow across Canadian healthcare, our report reveals that legacy infrastructure is making it harder to unlock its full potential,” said Shash Anand (pictured), SVP of Product Strategy at SOTI. “From security gaps to poor device visibility, many organizations are stuck trying to scale innovation on outdated systems. To close that gap, they need robust Enterprise Mobility Management solutions that deliver real-time intelligence, control and flexibility, especially when care teams are under pressure to do more with less.”

Canada is emerging as a global leader in the use of AI for updating patient records, with 68% of healthcare organizations leveraging it for this purpose. This surpasses the global average of 59% and outpaces the U.S. (60%), Mexico (64%), Italy (57%), and Spain (54%).

AI use in Canadian healthcare organizations jumped from 72% in 2024 to 87% in 2025, signaling a dramatic shift in budget and care prioritization (found in SOTI’s 2024 report).

What’s more interesting is how AI is leveraged across various facets of Canadian healthcare. Not only are 52% using AI for administrative purposes (up from 11% in the 2024 report), 60% report AI is used to process and analyze medical data, 47% to personalize treatments and 41% to diagnose conditions.

“This shift to the broader use of AI is critical, as it allows Canadian healthcare organizations to streamline time-consuming back-office tasks, reduce human error, and free up clinical staff to focus more directly on patient care in an already overstretched system,” added Anand.

However, to benefit from innovative technology, healthcare organizations must strengthen their backend systems to enhance productivity and security, which the report reveals to be a major issue.

In Canada, 99% of IT leaders reported challenges with legacy systems, IoT and telehealth challenges. All IT decision makers (100%) indicated that their organizations utilize connected devices or telehealth solutions. Telehealth helps support patients remotely, increasing accessibility, saving time and enhancing communication.

The report found that nearly two-thirds (65%) of organizations globally use unintegrated, outdated systems for IoT and telehealth medical devices.

This was the highest in Australia at 77%, the UK at 73%, and Canada at 71%. This impacts interoperability, such as accessing real-time patient data in one place, and increases security vulnerabilities. In Canada, 73% of organizations face downtime/tech issues, and 51% say legacy systems make networks vulnerable to attack.

Canadian IT decision makers state IT staff cannot deploy and manage new devices/printers (46%), cannot support devices remotely/get detailed information on device issues (43%) and spend too much time fixing issues (47%), all due to legacy systems.

Research also found that the UK (47%), Canada (46%) and Australia (43%) had the most issues with deploying and managing new devices/printers, above the global average. This is where current Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions are falling short, and enhanced Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solutions are making a groundbreaking impact.

Data security is the top concern for 30% of healthcare organizations and 13% say that managing the security of shared devices was their top challenge. Almost half (43%) report a security-related issue as their top IT concern. In Canada, a security-related issue was rated the top concern by 39% of respondents in 2024 and 53% in 2025.

“Shared device security remains one of the most pressing IT challenges. Basic MDM tools no longer meet the demands of today’s complex digital environment,” said Stephanie Lopinski, VP of global marketing at SOTI. “With more devices, users and frontline workers, healthcare must adopt EMM solutions that enable centralized deployment, security and management. Only then can IT leaders ensure scalable, secure and compliant operations.”

Healthcare organizations are heading in the right direction. But to fully capitalize on emerging technology, they need to refocus and reallocate time and resources to upgrade their IT infrastructure.

Download SOTI’s latest report, Healthcare’s Digital Dilemma: Calculated Risks and Hidden Challenges Exposed, here.

About SOTI
SOTI is a proven innovator and industry leader for simplifying business mobility solutions by making them smarter, faster and more reliable. With SOTI’s innovative portfolio of solutions, organizations can trust SOTI to elevate and streamline their mobile operations, maximize ROI and reduce device downtime. Globally, with over 17,000 customers, SOTI has proven itself to be the go-to mobile platform provider to manage, secure and support business-critical devices. With SOTI’s world-class support, enterprises can take mobility to endless possibilities. For more information, visit soti.net.