Monday Morning Update 12/8/25

Top News

HHS plans to expand its use of AI, primarily to improve administrative efficiency, and also to deliver real-time patient guidance by analyzing medical records.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Three-fourths of poll respondents consult a research-only firm when making buying decisions, most often KLAS.

New poll to your right or here: Will health systems meaningfully benefit from adding an C-suite AI job, such as chief AI officer?

Reader donations and matching funds provided Ms. M’s NC-based student-run school news program with audio and video equipment. She reports, “This is such a blessing to our student news team! They are so excited to bring the school news to our school, but we are struggling to make it work with limited technology. These items, such as the microphones, will be SO helpful so that we are able to be heard around the building! We have such ambitious, funny, bright students who are excite to bring something school wide.”

Welcome to new HIStalk Gold Sponsor FinThrive. The Plano, TX-based company helps 3,200 healthcare organizations increase revenue, reduce costs, improve patients financial experience, and ensure regulatory compliance across their entire revenue cycle continuum. Its SaaS-based RCM Platform delivers the industry’s widest breadth of capabilities, including integrated workflows supporting patient access, revenue integrity, claims management, contract management, and collections management teams within a centralized work environment. The company helps its customers bring modern digital experiences to their patients, including self-scheduling, virtual check-in, price estimations, patient payments and payment plans, and ongoing SMS-based secure communications.  – with no app downloads required. Its platform also leverages machine learning, robotic process automation, end-to-end RCM analytics, and billing and coding education resources to increase efficiency and drive sustained ROI. Thanks to FinThrive for supporting HIStalk.

Sponsored Events and Resources

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

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Lightbeam Health Solutions acquires Syntax Health, whose platform supports value-based care contracting.

Nova Scotia’s IWK Health goes live on Oracle Health, the first hospital to do so under the province’s One Person One Record project.

India-based Healthify expects to add more GLP-1 drug makers to its patient support program, which offers metrics tracking and coaching, following its new contract with Novo Nordisk. The company says that it has 45 million global users.

Announcements and Implementations

OpenEvidence releases a free dialer program that allows physicians to contact their patients without exposing their personal phone number. It integrates with the Visits portion of the company’s app to allow users to automatically create a clinical note from the call.

Government and Politics

The FDA launches a pilot that creates a risk-based regulatory pathway for chronic disease digital health devices, giving manufacturers enforcement discretion while they gather and publish real-world performance data.

Privacy and Security

BJC HealthCare calls out a “misleading” social media post that claims that the health system revokes parental access to their children’s records. It clarifies that its MyChart portal changes parental access from full to limited access when their child turns 12, but parents can still obtain records through its release process, all of which complies with federal and state privacy laws.

A US Embassy official assures Kenyans that their identifiable health records will not be shared with the US government under a new $150 million security agreement between the countries. A Kenya-based whistleblower claims that the deal grants full US government access to patient records, calls for sharing data with drug companies, and places Kenya’s data rights at risk by putting the agreement under US law.

Other

An Asheville, NC-based news site says that the soaring share price of hospital operator HCA Healthcare has boosted the net worth of co-founder and major shareholder Thomas Frist, Jr., MD to $42 billion, with the $15 billion jump so far this year making him the 47th richest person in the world.

Sponsor Updates

• Judi Health staff volunteer with Nourishing Hope and sponsor 7,500 meals for Chicago families in need.
• Black Book Research’s latest survey finds that RCM leaders feel that AI ambitions are running into data quality, governance, and integration barriers.
• TrustCommerce, a Sphere company, and Qure4u partner to streamline and secure integrated patient payments.
• Altera Digital Health offers a new client story titled “Horizon Health System continues driving better care with the help of Altera’s Paragon 24.1.”
• WellSky releases its fourth annual “Evolution of Care” report.
• HCTec publishes a new case study titled “Epic Implementation/ Go-Live Support with Staffing and Direct Hire for a Leader in Urgent Care Services.”
• CHIME recognizes several Meditech customers with its 2025 Digital Health Most Wired designation.
• Nordic releases a new episode of its “Designing for Health” podcast featuring Anna Schoenbaum, DNP and Srinath Adusumalli, MD.
• Optimum Healthcare IT achieves AWS Generative AI Services Competency.
• RLDatix will exhibit at IHI Forum 2025 December 7-10 in Anaheim, CA.

Blog Posts

• The future of integrated healthcare workflow: Delivering on the promises of the EHR dream (Wolters Kluwer Health)
• Building an ambient AI scribe for the real world (Altera Digital Health)
• Care management software: Overview and 10 options for 2026 (Arcadia)
• Boost Call Quality with Five9’s Support for Microsoft Multimedia Redirection (Five9)
• Inside a Healthcare Ransomware Battle: How Preparation Saved Patients (Fortified Health Security)
• Navigating the 2025 Telehealth Policy Cliff: Why a Care Access Platform is No Longer Optional (Kyruus Health)
• International impact: How healthcare technology helps deliver high-quality patient care across the globe (Meditech)
• Which Cloud Service is Right for Your Organization? (Med Tech Solutions)
• Rethinking HEDIS and Stars: Building a quality-first culture (Navina)
• 5 Ways Automation Is Transforming Human Services Workflows (Netsmart)
• When to Use Modifier 25 vs. Modifier 59 (Nym)
• How to Improve Ambient Temperature Monitoring in Hospitals (SmartSense by Digi)
• Understanding Payment Card Fees in Healthcare Payments (TrustCommerce, a Sphere company)
• Access is an Outcome: Eliminating Coverage Uncertainty Across the Patient Journey (Surescripts)
• CHIME Fall Forum 2025 Insights for Healthcare CIOs (Symplr)
• Why Coding Teams Are Moving Toward Single Path Coding (TruBridge)
• Connect care to payment: The value of combining clinical + financial data in one platform (Waystar)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
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