OPINION: Is New Mexico overlooking health care in its high-tech future?

As New Mexico ramps up investment in quantum technology, artificial intelligence, bioscience and funding for startups, one of the most meaningful applications of these investments is health care. Yet despite the clear need, health care remains largely disconnected from the state’s broader science and technology innovation strategy.

With the state actively shaping its future as a high tech economy, this is a critical moment to bring health care into the fold. Policymakers have a timely opportunity to align these bold investments with tangible impact to deliver real health care solutions to communities across the state.

Health care is New Mexico’s largest employer and second-largest combined industry by revenue — but it’s under strain. Of New Mexico’s 33 counties, 32 are designated Health Professional Shortage Areas. Between 2017 and 2021, primary care physicians declined by nearly 30%, with similar drops among nurses, OB‑GYNs, dentists, behavioral health providers and EMTs. A 2021 workforce analysis found that while approximately 1,649 primary care physicians were practicing, another 334 would be needed for all counties to meet the national benchmark of 8.5 providers per 10,000 people. In 2023, health care workers remained the top occupational shortfall reported by 28 of 33 counties. These access barriers translate to delayed care, travel distances often exceeding 60 miles and persistent regional inequities in health outcomes.

As Medicaid cuts loom and demand continues to rise — in part due to an aging population — New Mexico health care is at an inflection point, and advancing health science and technology will be essential to improving outcomes and efficiency within an increasingly resource-constrained health system.

The case isn’t about adding a new economic focus or asking providers to do more with less — it’s about aligning the state’s existing investments with these urgent needs.

When implemented thoughtfully, AI and digital health tools offer promising ways to mitigate these challenges, from predictive workforce planning to automated triage tools and AI-assisted telehealth that is expanding access. When deployed with robust human oversight, AI could increase patient engagement, reduce travel burdens and optimize scarce provider time while ensuring clinicians remain central to care. Longer-term, quantum technology and bioscience discoveries promise to revolutionize precision care by accelerating diagnostics, personalized treatment, predictive modeling capabilities and drug discovery tailored to local populations. These innovations won’t replace providers — but they can amplify their impact, improving efficiency and efficacy.

Unfortunately, recognizing health care as a high potential innovation frontier remains largely disconnected from New Mexico’s broader growth agenda. Despite large-scale state efforts to stabilize and support health care infrastructure, including the creation of the Health Care Authority in 2024 and over $80 million distributed through the Rural Health Care Delivery Fund, health care technology remains largely siloed from the state’s science and technology innovation strategy.

This gap is especially striking given findings from the 2021 Empower and Collaborate report prepared for the New Mexico Economic Development Department, which highlights “health care-focused software companies, especially those that utilize [AI] and advanced computational methods …” as an overlooked asset within the state’s health/bio sciences sector. It also identifies health care as one of several industries where New Mexico is competitively positioned to significantly grow compared to industries requiring a “greater degree of intentionality” to see employment gains.

With prominent laboratories, universities leading health and engineering research, and major state investments already in motion, New Mexico has all the building blocks to become a hub for health innovation.

With a statewide network that’s agile enough to pilot new solutions quickly and responsibly, New Mexico is well-positioned to lead. For example, HealthInno, a statewide consortium dedicated to strengthening the health sciences and health technology ecosystem, is developing such a pilot network while growing the pipeline of health technologists in partnership with CNM Ingenuity and The Encantado Foundation; Imagine New Mexico is incentivizing collaboration to improve health outcomes through data; and Innovate New Mexico is bringing research organizations together to support increased tech transfer. These initiatives show how we can collaborate to strengthen the future of health care while keeping talent and solutions rooted in local values, needs and priorities.

This moment presents more than a chance to modernize, but an opportunity to lead. While not a panacea, emerging technology like AI can streamline service delivery, improve patient experience and extend the reach of providers stretched thin across vast regions. And recent legislative efforts show that New Mexico is taking AI and responsible technology seriously.

What’s missing is full alignment: A strategy that connects health care with the state’s focus on science and technology, technical workforce development, entrepreneurship and tech transfer — unlocking better outcomes and the kind of innovation-driven prosperity that both attracts and retains the talent, business and capital resources our state needs to thrive.

By folding health care into our innovation agenda and avoiding legislation that restricts responsible AI use, New Mexico can demonstrate what a smarter, more equitable future looks like in real-world settings. It’s a chance to strengthen our economy and deliver real benefits to New Mexicans — starting today.

We have momentum. We have urgency. Now, we need a plan to act.