News 1/7/26

Top News

Healthcare-focused private equity firm Altaris acquires Tegria from Providence St. Joseph Health.

Tegria was formed in 2020 from Engage, Bluetree, and Navin Haffty. It then acquired Cumberland, Sisu Solutions, Cloud21. It had previously acquired KenSci, Colburn Hill Group, Lumedic, Community Technologies, and MediRevv. 

Providence spun out analytics firm Advata in June 2022 by combining KenSci, Colburn Hill Group, MultiScale, Lumedic, Quiviq, and Alphalytics. That company apparently shut down in early 2023. Providence sold Acclara to R1 RCM in early 2024 for $675 million.

Altaris acquired Sharecare in 2024. Its exited healthcare holdings include Acclara, AGS Health, Clearwater, and Precyse.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Welcome to new HIStalk Platinum Sponsor VectorCare. VectorCare is the first patient logistics platform that is built directly inside leading EHRs using SMART on FHIR. Care teams can schedule transportation, home health, and DME in under a minute, without leaving thepatient chart or relying on phone calls and portals. Our SMART on FHIR integration embeds VectorCare into Epic, Cerner, Meditech, Allscripts, Athena, and more with zero code or IT effort. Real-time updates, vendor communication, and live tracking flow directly into the EHR to streamline every transition of care. With VectorCare’s no-code workflow builder, organizations can standardize discharge and care-coordination workflows instantly. This reduces delays, improves handoffs, and helps lower preventable readmissions by up to 30%. Explore our SMART on FHIR app in the Epic Showroom or request a demo. Follow us on LinkedIn and X for updates on patient logistics innovation. Thanks to VectorCare for supporting HIStalk.

I found this YouTube demo of Vector’s SMART on FHIR app within Epic.

Sponsored Events and Resources

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

Sales

• Kirby Medical Center (IL) selects Switchboard, MD’s automated healthcare communications software.

People

InterSystems promotes Don Woodlock to president.

MDAudit promotes Nisheet Goenka, MSEE to CTO.

The Guthrie Clinic (NY) promotes Brad Carvellas, MS to SVP and chief digital officer.

Asif Ali, MD (University of Houston College of Medicine) joins Kencor Health as chief medical officer.

Atropos Health promotes Kevin Smith to chief growth officer.

TeleTracking appoints Derek Ritchea, MBA (Lincoln International) as chief strategy officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Utah launches a pilot to allow AI technology from Doctronic to autonomously manage prescription refills for 190 common medications. The company also markets a free chatbot that assesses systems, offers guidance, and then offers to connect users with virtual providers for a $39 virtual consultation.

Healthcare data foundation operator CAQH restructures to assign ownership to 12 shareholder entities that are affiliated with national health plans.

Southwestern Medical Center and Comanche County Memorial Hospital merge to form Memorial Health System of Southwest Oklahoma. The combined system will implement Meditech Expanse this summer.

Connecticut’s Connie HIE implements Clinical Architecture’s PIQXL Gateway patient data quality measurement tool.

Government and Politics

The FDA issues an RFI on a proposed contracting vehicle that is aimed at making it easier for VC-backed companies to do business with the agency. FDA notes that many breakthrough health technologies come from firms that lack the resources and know-how to navigate federal procurement, and that the government’s use of prime contractors, whose incentives favor billable hours over scalable solutions, often impedes adoption.

The VA sees a 10% annual increase in telehealth use amongst veterans, 92% of whom report being satisfied with the care received.

Other

A social determinants of health-focused survey of 145 healthcare facilities in Arkansas finds that, while providers screen at a high rate, significant gaps exist in referring patients to services and providing services directly. The survey also found that SDOH-related needs most often pertain to housing, transportation, and food insecurity.

Sponsor Updates

• TruBridge staff partner with United Way of Southwest Alabama to support the Africatown Hall & Food Bank in Mobile, AL.
• Netsmart announces its commitment to the CMS Health Tech Ecosystem initiative as a CMS Aligned Network.
• TrustCommerce, a Sphere company, announces the release of a KLAS First Look report highlighting strong early results and customer satisfaction for its Cloud Payments solution.
• Black Book Research releases its “2026 State of Global Digital Healthcare Technology” report.
• AdvancedMD helps mental health practice Modern Mojo reduce time spent on insurance eligibility by more than 80%.
• Artera releases new insights on the rising cost of patient no-shows across healthcare systems.
• Grand Lake Health System will implement Altera Digital Health’s Sunrise Axon, connecting through Health Gorilla’s TEFCA-enabled QHIN.
• Consensus Cloud Solutions CRO and EVP Johnny Hecker wins the 2025 Gold Globee Business Award.
• CereCore releases a new podcast titled “A Rural CNO on Healthcare Innovation That Actually Helps Nurses.”

Blog Posts

• Maximizing Utilization Review Processes for Quality and Productivity (AGS Health)
• Centralized solutions help align drug development teams, providers, and patients (Wolters Kluwer Health)
• Headlines across healthcare: Altera’s take on top trends in 2025 (Altera Digital Health)
• Why Most Organizations Are Already Behind on CMS-0057-F (Canopii Collaborative)
• What Healthcare Executives Read Most in 2025 (Optimum Healthcare IT)
• EHR build sprawl: Why “just in case” is costing you more than you think (Cardamom Health)
• Visibility Ahead: How 2026 Will Defog the Prior Authorization Process (DrFirst)

Contacts

Mr. H, Lorre, Jenn, Dr. Jayne.
Get HIStalk updates.
Send news or rumors.
Follow on X, Bluesky, and LinkedIn.
Sponsorship information.
Contact us.