News 2/20/26

Top News

University of Mississippi Medical Center closes all of its clinics following a Thursday cyberattack that kept users out of Epic and other systems.

HIStalk Announcements and Requests

Here’s a two-question quiz: (a) is your company participating in HIMSS26?; and (b) does it sponsor HIStalk? If both answers are yes, then complete this form to describe your participation and I’ll include it in my online guide. If B is a no, then contact Lorre because you are spending three expensive HIMSS days wooing non-decision-makers who are trolling for swag ands soiree invitations, but you’re missing the inexpensive opportunity to catch the attention of the actual decision-makers who frequent HIStalk all year.

Dr. Jayne’s latest post references this earworm of a song, which now has me hooked. I also learned that  longtime HIStalkapalooza contributor Bonny Roberts recently joined the company, CognomIQ, as VP of customer success.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Publication: HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2026 lists the activities of sponsors at the conference.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

A Boston Globe article calls the former Steward Health Care hospitals that other systems acquired “the fixer-upper from hell,” as new owners discover hidden financial problems, deteriorating facilities, and deeper-than-expected operating losses. Boston Medical Center will spend $80 million to replace Steward’s EHR, which it says is so dysfunctional that it struggles to get paid, while Brown University Health spent “tens of millions of dollars” just to operate the system and prepare to replace it. Steward implemented Meditech Expanse in 18 hospitals in 2022 and used Athenahealth for ambulatory care.

Investment firm Exa Capital acquires clinical workforce management software vendor StaffReady. The buy-and-hold enterprise software company also owns human service EHR vendor PrecisionCare.

Hims & Hers will acquire Australia-based online clinic operator Eucalyptus for $1.15 billion.

People

Healthmonix hires Pierre Menard (Trella Health) as CTO.

Announcements and Implementations

HIMSS President and CEO Hal Wolf appears on the short-form, pay-to-play TV program “Viewpoint with Dennis Quaid” to promote AI in what comes across as a self-congratulatory infomercial. Past episodes have highlighted wineries, a cruise line, and casinos. The show wins awards, at least the kind where you attach your check to your self-nomination with full expectation of “winning.” Quaid delivered the keynote at HIMSS09, speaking about patient safety after a Cedars-Sinai medication error nearly killed his newborn twins. He later settled with Cedars and Baxter, which sold the 10,000-unit heparin vial and 100-unit Hep-Lock that hospital staff mixed up because they violated hospital policy that requires pharmacist verification. HIMSS gave a $10,000 donation to Quaid’s patient safety foundation, which accomplished nothing as far as I can tell, merged with another organization within a year, and was later sold to a for-profit college.

Government and Politics

An Indiana otolaryngologist is sentenced to 97 months in federal prison for billing Medicare and private insurance $50 million for balloon sinuplasty procedures that she hadn’t actually performed, which netted her $20 million that she now has to repay.

Sponsor Updates

• AdvancedMD launches a new release that includes an ambient listening tool, presenting suggested action items from patient transcripts, managing PBM requests, enhanced appointment scheduling and cancellation, and AI-driven analysis.
• Tegria releases a new report titled “The Access-Driven Enterprise: How Health Systems Are Defining, Enabling, and Advancing Access Strategy.”
• Findhelp publishes a new case study titled “How Essentia Health Increased Patient Trust by 66% with Findhelp.”
• Jason Peterson, MBA, MS (Tegria) joins Canopii Collaborative as AVP of client partnerships.
• The Validation Institute names Judi Health a Health Value Award winner in Pharmacy Benefit Management.
• Medicomp Systems releases a new “Tell Me Where HIT Hurts” podcast episode featuring Civitas Networks for Health CEO Jolie Ritzo.
• Fortified Health Security announces TPRM with VendorIQ, a third-party risk management solution that helps healthcare organizations assess and track vendor cybersecurity risk.
• Meditech congratulates customer Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences on winning its second HIMSS Davies Award.

Blog Posts

• Building a foundation of trust: How responsible AI is built (Altera Digital Health)
• 20 Risk adjustment software vendors to consider in 2026 (Arcadia)
• Beyond the counter: Pharmacy teams can impact care delivery (Wolters Kluwer Health)
• The Denial-Free Revenue Cycle: Tools and Tactics to Keep Costs in Check (FinThrive)
• Why Healthcare Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Must Change (Fortified Health Security)
• Preparedness in Ambulatory Healthcare: Are Your IT Systems Ready for What’s Next? (HCTec)
• How a Leading Cancer Center Achieved $122 Million in Revenue Optimization in Eight Months: A Revenue Integrity–Driven Success Story (Impact Advisors)
• A collaborative path to improving maternal health through meaningful connections (Meditech)
• Oracle Cerner Staffing Resource Guide: Tackling 8 Key Cerner Support Problems Amid Ongoing EHR Market Movement (Med Tech Solutions)
• Achieving the real ROI of AI: 5 takeaways for clinical, financial, and VBC success in 2026 (Navina)

Contacts

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