News 2/5/25
Top News
Affineon Health, which offers AI-powered physician inbox management software, raises $5 million in seed funding.
Reader Comments
From Victor Spoils: “Re: Transcarent. Have they pulled the plug on 98point6?” Allegheny College reports that the text-based virtual care technology vendor informed them it ceased operations as of January 1. The company transitioned to a software-only model in 2023 after selling its virtual care platform and affiliated provider group to Transcarent for $100 million. Former employees stated in April 2024 that most staff had been laid off. While the company’s website remains active and its app is still available on the App Store, the app has not been updated since June 2024.
HIStalk Announcements and Requests
Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum Sponsor Praia Health. Praia Health is the first consumer experience orchestration platform for healthcare, revolutionizing the way health systems engage and retain patients. Incubated at Providence, Praia Health has been instrumental in transforming how consumers interact with a health system’s digital channels, spanning web, mobile, a chat-bot solution, and the patient portal. Praia orchestrates digital interactions and disconnected point solutions, creating a cohesive experience for consumers spanning both clinical and nonclinical interactions that influence health outcomes. These experiences can be accessed through a single set of account credentials tied to an authenticated user’s personalized profile. Following in the footsteps of other consumer-driven industries, Praia unlocks digital transformation for health systems by managing the heavy lifting and custom integrations required for a frictionless consumer experience. Praia provides health systems with a platform to connect disparate digital programs, services, and tools, allowing them to deliver a more personalized experience, increase conversion rates, and drive system loyalty. The company’s founder and CEO is industry long-timer Justin Dearborn. Thanks to Praia Health for supporting HIStalk.
Thanks to these companies that recently supported HIStalk. Click a logo for more information and contact Lorre to join them.
Sponsored Events and Resources
Instant Access Webinar: “Successfully Navigating Post-Acute Rev Cycle Challenges.” Sponsors: Inovalon and KanTime. Presenters: David Swenson, senior manager of sales engineering, Inovalon; Lucy Lopez, VP of product management, KanTime. Learn how to speed up your revenue cycle processes and avoid the common RCM and eligibility errors that cause delays and denials. Discover strategies to boost your bottom line: streamline eligibility verification, simplify complex processes, and optimize denial management for improved cash flow.
Instant Access Webinar: “How AI Addresses Resource Constraints Within Identity Data Management.” Sponsor: Rhapsody. Presenters: Lynn Stoltz, MS, director of product management, Rhapsody; Drew Ivan, MS, chief architect, Rhapsody; Michelle Blackmer, chief marketing officer, Rhapsody. Discover how to overcome the toughest challenge in identity data management: resource constraints. The presenters will cover how Rhapsody EMPI with Autopilot solves resource challenges like limitations in time, talent, and budget; Reduces costs and risks associated with inaccurate data; and boosts identity data accuracy through 98% decision-making precision.
Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.
Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock
Healthcare AI company Suki announces $3 million in funding from Zoom Ventures, bringing its total amount raised to $168 million. Zoom’s video communications business announced in November that it would add Suki’s ambient clinical documentation capabilities to its healthcare offering for virtual and in-person visits.
The new owners of Massachusetts hospitals that were previously owned by the now-bankrupt Steward Health Care claim that Steward is demanding millions more than the agreed-upon amount for transitional medical record and billing services.
Stat reports that digital physical therapy company Sword Health will retool itself as an AI care company that will address all labor-intensive care delivery models.
Sales
- BayCare (FL) selects Visage Imaging’s Visage 7 Enterprise Imaging Platform.
- Mercy will implement Aidoc’s AiOS technology for diagnostic imaging in a phased rollout at facilities in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
- St. Joseph’s Medical Center’s multispecialty physician practice (NY) will adopt Retrieve Medical’s clinical documentation software.
- UNC Health selects Abridge’s AI-powered ambient speech-recognition and documentation technology.
- UK HealthCare (KY) will implement Epic at King’s Daughters Medical Center and St. Claire Regional Medical Center in the summer of 2026.
- Gunnison Valley Health (CO) will roll out Epic this May via UC Health and the Epic Community Connect program.
People
CloudWave promotes Mike Donahue to COO.
Steve Motil (Optum) joins Valley Health (VA) as chief data and analytics officer.
Westchester Medical Center Health Network (NY) names Leo Bodden, MBA (NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital) SVP/CIO.
Sanjeev Kumar, PhD (Gainwell Technologies) joins NextGen Healthcare as chief data and analytics officer.
Cedars-Sinai Health System (CA) promotes Shaun Miller, MD, MBA to chief health informatics officer and Yaron Elad, MD to CMIO, and names Lisa Stephenson, RN (Houston Methodist) CNIO.
Industry long-timer Mitch Mitchell (Amwell) joins Hippocratic AI as chief growth officer, government sector.
Announcements and Implementations
A new KLAS report on ambient documentation finds that adoption is growing rapidly as organizations address clinician burden and burnout. Respondents emphasize that physicians should not be expected to use their time savings to see more patients. Abridge leads in overall performance, with customers valuing its outcomes, cost effectiveness, multilingual support, and evidence linking. Microsoft’s DAX Copilot is frequently chosen by providers with existing Nuance relationships, though some say that it is more expensive than competing options.
Other
In Canada, doctors in British Columbia call on the provincial government to end the requirement that employees get a doctor’s sick note to return to work. They say it’s a waste of time, especially since the EHRs of individual practices don’t communicate with each other.
California farm workers are using MiSalud, an app-based, bilingual telehealth service that connects them to doctors in Mexico. Providers who aren’t licensed in the US can’t prescribe, but can perform health coaching.
Biomedical researcher Derya Unutmaz, MD uses ChatGPT’s new Deep Research tool to review two cancer cases. He reports, “Both reports were simply impeccable, like something only a specialist MD could write. There’s a reason I said this is a game-changer.” He has previously said that AI will be a standard, required tool in medical practice within two years, and electing not to use it might be considered malpractice.
Sponsor Updates
- AdvancedMD adds Mental Health Technologies to its integration partner marketplace.
- Vyne Medical releases a new podcast, “Healthcare AI Automation by Vyne Medical Improves Accuracy and Trust.”
- Arcadia ranks first in healthcare data governance and analytics, according to 2025 Black Book client ratings.
- Agfa HealthCare announces that it has been named a Leader in IDC MarketScape’s US Enterprise Medical Imaging 2024-2025 Vendor Assessment.
- Capital Rx releases a new episode of The Astonishing Healthcare Podcast, “ERISA Insights: Challenges & Compliance in Modern Healthcare, with Nick Welle.”
- Consensus Cloud Solutions offers a new whitepaper, “3 Reasons Healthcare Systems Should Invest in AI Technology Now.”
Blog Posts
- Advancing Addiction Treatment: 6 Ways Technology is the Catalyst (Netsmart)
- Here’s Our Comprehensive Guide on How to Get Into Travel Nursing (SnapCare)
- The dangers of disparate systems (Altera Digital Health)
- Four Hidden Pitfalls of In-House Provider Portals (Availity)
- Ensuring successful EHR implementations: A holistic approach to people, data, and technology (Cardamom Health)
- CloudWave’s Predictions for Healthcare IT in 2025 Part 5: A Resurgence of the Public Cloud in Healthcare (CloudWave)
- Amazon Lex: A Lifeline for Healthcare Organizations in the Post-Nuance Era (CTG)
Contacts
Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Contact us.
You described my weekend with mom.