News 4/18/25

Top News

UnitedHealth Group reports Q1 results: revenue up 9.8%, EPS $6.85 versus $6.91, missing expectations for both and sending shares down more than 20% in the company’s first earnings miss since 2008.

UHG also cut its 2025 outlook.

CEO Andrew Witty called the results, which were negatively affected by unexpectedly high Medicare Advantage medical costs, “unusual and unacceptable.”

On the earnings call, Witty said the company’s tools boosted digital engagement among senior members by 40% in Q1. He added that AI will route over half of incoming calls to the appropriate resource this year. UnitedHealth also reported that AI-powered claims tools improved Optum Insight productivity by 20%.

Reader Comments

From JSON Argonaut: “Re: AI. We just signed a multi-year AI partnership so we can say we did. If it improves care or efficiency, great, but let’s be honest, the board wanted a press release.”

Sponsored Events and Resources

None scheduled soon. Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Assort Health, which offers AI-powered incoming call management for patient scheduling in specialty practices, raises $26 million in funding.

Sales

• The Minnesota Department of Human Services chooses Findhelp to power Find Help Minnesota, a statewide behavioral health program locator.
• Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation chooses Meditech Expanse.

People

Healthcare cost containment technology vendor Claritev, which was formerly known as Multiplan, hires Jigar Patel, MD (Oracle) as SVP/chief medical officer.

Vanessa Carmean, PhD (KeyCare) joins Lirio as RVP of sales.

Caregentic hires Russ Johannesson, MBA (Glooko) as CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

A preprint describes how UMass Memorial PCPs used Linus Health’s tablet-based tool to incorporate cognitive assessments into routine visits.

Altera Digital Health integrates Nabla’s ambient documentation solution with Paragon Denali.

A new KLAS report finds that non-US health systems are using technology, especially AI, to fight staff burnout. AI and analytics investment are outpacing EHR and digitization projects. Cloud adoption is rising, although most deployments remain hybrid or lift-and-shift rather than cloud-native.

Government and Politics

The House Oversight Committee asks 23andMe co-founder and former CEO Anne Wojcicki for details on the company’s bankruptcy and any plans to transfer personal and genetic data, warning that a sale to the highest bidder could be a “national security disaster.”

The National Association of Attorneys General urges Congress to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from owning or operating pharmacies. Meanwhile, a new Arkansas law prohibits that same practice.

The White House proposes slashing HHS discretionary spending by one-third and reorganizing its agencies, following a previous 20,000-employee headcount cut.

Privacy and Security

KU Health, Lawrence Memorial, and Epic are named in a class action lawsuit after a KU Health physical therapist allegedly used its patient portal to snoop on patients of an affiliated plastic surgery clinic, including their nude photos. The suit, which was brought by patients of the plastic surgery clinic, claims that Care Everywhere’s cross-organizational data-sharing enabled the breach.

The CEO of an Oklahoma cybersecurity company is charged with installing screen logging malware on two computers of St. Anthony Hospital.

Sponsor Updates

• Black Book Research releases its fully updated and expanded 2025 Key Performance Indicator Framework for Revenue Cycle Management.
• Ellkay will present at Executive War College April 30 in New Orleans.
• The “HIT with Grace” podcast features First Databank VP of Product Management Virginia Halsey.
• Impact Advisors releases a new episode of its “Impactful AI” podcast titled “Decoding AI Empathy.”
• Infinx will exhibit at NAHAM 2025 April 30-May 3 in Phoenix.
• Meditech will present at the Montana Frontier Healthcare Conference June 18-19 in Billings.
• Mednition welcomes Wellstar Health System and Good Shepherd Health Care System to its community of KATE AI partners.
• MRO will exhibit at the American Urological Association conference April 26-29 in Las Vegas.
• Navina will exhibit at the NAACOS Spring Conference April 22-24 in Baltimore.

Blog Posts

• Three IT Focus Areas for Acquisition Due Diligence Decisions in Ambulatory Care (CereCore)
• The Latest from Vital Signs: Healthcare provider pay increases, staffing challenges, GPOs and practice-payer relationships (AdvancedMD)
• ROI for your RCM: Benefits of single platform approach (Altera Digital Health)
• What the 2026 Medicare Advantage rate update means for payers and providers (Arcadia)
• How Cost Transparency Enhances Patient Retention and Boosts Revenue Capture (Artera)
• Leveraging Data Analytics to Enhance CDM Effectiveness (FinThrive)
• Meeting Customer Demands: How to Stay Ahead in the New Era of CX (Five9)
• Patient Portals Redefined: A New Era of Trust and Engagement in Healthcare (HCTec)
• Healthmonix has done it: Quality reporting success for MSSP ACOs at scale (Healthmonix)
• The Foundation of Trust: Why Governance Matters in Healthcare Security (Impact Advisors)

Contacts

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