Monday Morning Update 10/13/25

Top News

Pharmacy operations software vendor Foundation Health raises a $20 million Series A round.

Founder, CEO, and pharmacist Umar Afridi, MPharm was co-founder and CEO of Truepill, a B2B digital pharmacy company that was acquired by Ireland-based LetsGetChecked in August 2024 for $525 million.

Reader Comments

From Dagger: “Re: last week’s news. The center of gravity is shifting. Microsoft’s deal with Harvard for medical content signals a shift toward clinically credible AI. The Qualtrics acquisition of Press Ganey consolidates patient-experience data under enterprise analytics. Policymakers are questioning who sets AI guardrails. The real competition now isn’t between EHRs, but between ecosystems that own both the data and the trust.” I’m most interested in HHS’s disdain for CHAI and other private efforts to lead or regulate some aspect of healthcare. HHS’s CMS itself supports (directly or otherwise) groups such as The Joint Commission and other accreditors, NCQA, URAC, NQF, CAP (proficiency testing), HL7, and IHE/HIMSS. Inside HHS, one might question ASTP/ONC’s EHR certification program role now that Meaningful Use money is long gone, market requirements exceed the certification ones, and vendors who sell non-certified EHRs may have competitive advantage due to lower costs and lack of developer exposure to ASTP/ONC information blocking requirements (although the customers of those vendors remain liable for information blocking as providers, which might influence their EHR choices). Slightly related, that might be another of many arguments for physicians to switch the the Direct Primary Care model where patients pay a monthly membership fee – if you don’t submit claims, check eligibility, or make referrals electronically, HIPAA doesn’t apply to you because it’s an outdated administrative privacy law, not a privacy law, even though most consumers don’t realize that. Ditto consumer wearables and data held by employers and life insurance companies – HIPAA doesn’t apply.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Poll respondents gave “digital transformation” the top spot in overused health tech terms. However, it’s a great descriptor for a nail salon. 

New poll to your right or here: Which health system goal carries the most weight when making technology investments?

Sponsored Events and Resources

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

AirStrip secures a $50 million growth credit facility from OrbiMed plus an additional equity investment, which it will use to expand its clinical surveillance, decision support, and remote monitoring solutions across health systems.

Government and Politics

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. uses a post on X to directly criticize CHAI and any non-governmental efforts to regulate the use of healthcare AI.

Senators press Deloitte and three other companies over widespread errors in Medicaid eligibility systems, raising concerns that beneficiaries will lose coverage when work requirements are implemented.

Austin Diagnostic Clinic (TX) restores parental access to children’s medical records under a settlement with Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office found that the clinic’s EHR was automatically revoking parental access when patients turned 12.

Senators consider a bill that would require healthcare facilities and plans to include a “human override” option in AI-driven clinical decision tools, ensuring that clinicians can reject AI recommendations without penalty. Covered entities would also be required to accept clinician feedback on AI-powered clinical decision support and would be prohibited from sharing data about clinician overrides that would identify a particular practitioner.

Other

A Pulitzer-winning climate publication covers Epic’s geothermal network, which it says is one of the largest geothermal heating and cooling networks in the world. The system includes 6,100 boreholes, and drilling started last month on another 2,400. Epic’s buildings use one-fourth of the amount of energy of typical office buildings from a combination of the geothermal system, high-efficiency lighting, and extra insulation and weatherization.

Sponsor Updates

• RLDatix staff raise $1,500 for SickKids Hospital at the Heatwave Volleyball Tournament.
• Ellkay, Navina, and Artera will exhibit at the Athenahealth Thrive Summit November 3-5 in Nashville.
• ReferWell appoints Charles Steller to its Board of Directors.
• Waystar will sponsor the CORE Combined Conference October 15-17 in New Orleans.

Blog Posts

• A little bot can spark big change: How RPA can bring better outcomes to organizations (Altera Digital Health)
• How employers can take back control of unnecessary pharmacy spending (Judi Health)
• 5 Ways to Strengthen the Cyber Conversation with CFOs (Fortified Health Security)
• Babies aren’t born with cell phones; your EHR didn’t get the memo. (Nordic)
• The Strategic Value of Autonomous Coding for Health Systems (Nym)
• Behind the Scenes: How We Build Trust into Every Line of Code (Surescripts)
• The Evolving Role of the Healthcare CIO (Symplr)

Sponsor Spotlight

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