Morning Headlines 1/7/26

Altaris Acquires Tegria

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

Artificial intelligence begins prescribing medications in Utah

Utah launches a pilot to allow AI technology from Doctronic to autonomously manage prescription refills for 190 common medications.

TPG in talks to buy UnitedHealth’s Optum UK unit, Sky News reports

US-based private equity firm TPG is reportedly looking to acquire UnitedHealth’s Optum UK business, which supplies EHR software to a large percentage of British physicians.

FDA announces sweeping changes to oversight of wearables, AI-enabled devices

The FDA will ease regulation of wearables and AI-enabled devices that provide non-medical-grade information.

Morning Headlines 1/6/26

40 million people turn to ChatGPT for health care

OpenAI reports that 40 million people around the world ask ChatGPT health-related questions on a daily basis.

CMS no longer requiring childhood vaccination data from states

CMS will no longer require states to report childhood and adolescent immunization statuses as it works on developing new vaccine measures.

CareCloud Appoints Chief Strategy Officer to Lead Enterprise AI Platform as Company Enters 2026 as Its Defining AI Year

CareCloud promotes Stephen Snyder to CEO and A. Hadi Chaudhry to chief strategy officer.

Morning Headlines 1/5/26

DEA Extends Telemedicine Flexibilities to Ensure Continued Access to Care

The Drug Enforcement Administration extends telehealth flexibility in the prescribing of controlled substances through December 31, 2026.

California-Based Health Tech Company Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Population health technology vendor Clint shuts down and files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, citing insufficient cash to make payroll and pay creditors.

Federal judge allows HHS to share Medicaid data with ICE

A federal judge in California rules that HHS can share Medicaid data with ICE, with limits remaining in place on what can be shared and used.

Morning Headlines 12/31/25

Mayor Adams, NYC Health + Hospitals President and CEO Dr. Katz Announce Merger Between NYC Health + Hospitals and Maimonides Health Moves Forward

NYC Health + Hospitals will take over the struggling Maimonides Health and implement Epic there.

Health Ministries Worldwide Are Quietly Tightening the Rules on Health IT Vendors

Black Book Research reports that non-US markets are increasingly making data residency, in-country processing, and legal control a pass-fail requirement for choosing systems.

Healthcare AI Update 2025: What Use Cases Are Adopted the Most?

KLAS finds that 79% of health systems are using AI, ambient documentation is the leading use case, and just one of 3,000 respondents say their organization is using agentic AI.

HTI 5 Proposed Rule Info Session

HHS ASTP/ONC posts an information session on its proposed plan to streamline EHR certification requirements and update information blocking regulations.

Morning Headlines 12/30/25

Defense Health Agency Seeking Industry Feedback on MHS GENESIS EHR Draft Contract Strategy

The Defense Health Agency issues an RFI to solicit industry feedback on its draft contract strategy for a follow-on to MHS Genesis and a proposed program office structure that would separate technical integration, human-centered design, and product management.

CMS Announces $50 Billion in Awards to Strengthen Rural Health in All 50 States

CMS announces that states will receive awards averaging $200 million under the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program, which they are expected to use to fund initiatives that include modernizing rural health infrastructure and technology.

Hospitals Score Win to Halt New HHS Drug Discount Rebate Pilot

A federal judge issues a preliminary injunction against HHS in a lawsuit brought by the American Hospital Association and others that would prevent HHS from implementing the 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program, where providers would buy drugs at full price and then seek rebates from drug companies.

Morning Headlines 12/29/25

How One Father Created an Organ Empire

The National Kidney Registry, which matches donors to recipients, pays millions to its technologist founder’s companies.

Medicare’s prior authorization has doctors on edge

Providers express uncertainty about how to submit prior authorization requests under traditional Medicare’s AI-powered treatment reviews, which launch as a six-state pilot project on January 1 for 17 treatments.

NHS England tech provider reveals data breach – DXS International hit by ransomware

A ransomware hacker claims to have stolen 300 GB of company data from NHS technology supplier DXS International.

Morning Headlines 12/24/25

Neurable Raises $35 Million Series A to Accelerate Deployment of Everyday Brain-Computer Interface Technology

Neurable will use new funding to commercialize its brain-computer interface technology that allows wearables to track mental fatigue, cognitive recovery, and focus state detection.

Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, Epic to launch centralized electronic health record system

Saint Peter’s Healthcare System (NJ), whose planned merger with Atlantic Health was cancelled in October 2025, will implement Epic.

New York Governor Vetoes Restrictive Health Privacy Law

New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoes the New York Health Information Privacy Act, a broad health data privacy bill that would have expanded protections for health information beyond federal HIPAA standards

Morning Headlines 12/23/25

HHS Proposes HTI-5 Rule to Streamline Certification Program, Further Protect Patients from Information Blocking, and Foster an Artificial Intelligence-enabled Future

HHS proposes the HTI-5 rule to streamline the ONC Health IT Certification Program, strengthen enforcement against information blocking, and establish a foundation of modern FHIR-based APIs to support AI-enabled interoperability while reducing regulatory burden and saving billions in compliance costs.

CEO of Health Care Software Company Sentenced for $1B Fraud Conspiracy

An Arizona man is sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay over $452 million in restitution for operating a software platform that generated more than $1 billion in fraudulent Medicare and insurer claims by using false doctors’ orders and illegal kickbacks to bill medically unnecessary durable medical equipment and other items.

Can the Montana State Hospital regain federal standing without electronic health records?

State officials are seeking to restore federal certification for Montana State Hospital even though the adult psychiatry facility continues to use paper-based medical records.

AMA CEO: AI is not medicine’s future—“this is happening now.”

American Medical Association CEO John Whyte, MD, MPH says artificial intelligence is not a distant future for medicine, it is already reshaping clinical care and digital health, and physicians must take a leadership role in its creation and use.

Morning Headlines 12/22/25

Holt exits New Mountain to create $30 billion health‑tech venture

New Mountain Capital private equity president Matt Holt leaves the firm after nearly 25 years to combine five of New Mountain’s healthcare portfolio companies into Thoreau, which will use AI to reduce medical costs.

HHS Announces Request for Information to Harness Artificial Intelligence to Deflate Health Care Costs and Make America Healthy Again

HHS publishes an RFI seeking feedback on how it can use its regulatory, payment, and R&D activities to increase healthcare AI adoption.

Hospital Completes EMR Investigation; System Cleared and Returning to Network

Cuero Regional Hospital (TX) brings its EHR back online after identifying anomalies within its network and reverting to downtime procedures for several days.

Morning Headlines 12/19/25

UnitedHealthcare delays controversial RPM policy change

UnitedHealthcare will delay implementation of a controversial policy that would have restricted its payment for remote patient monitoring.

Health-tech startup Deacon Health reveals first customer after raising $11M

Post-acute care coordination startup Deacon Health raises an additional $4 million after launching in April with $7 million in funding.

Catalyst by Wellstar Launches Polysight, Bringing Real-Time AI to Healthcare Compliance

Wellstar Health System’s venture arm launches Polysight to help health systems maintain regulatory compliance.

Morning Headlines 12/18/25

Private practice platform Tebra secures $250M to accelerate AI innovation

Ambulatory health IT vendor Tebra announces $250 million in new financing.

Valerie Health raises $30 million Series A to scale “AI front offices” for physicians

San Francisco-based Valerie Health announces $30 million in Series A funding and the creation of a regional operations hub in Chattanooga, TN.

Vitalis Ventures Announces $15 Million Strategic Funding for Drive Health to Accelerate Avery, the Clinical Workflow AI

Healthcare AI company Drive Health secures $15 million in funding from Vitalis Ventures and Inside Capital Partners.

Morning Headlines 12/17/25

FDA Eliminates Major Barrier to Using Real-World Evidence in Drug and Device Application Reviews

FDA updates its policy to accept de-identified real-world evidence to support drug and device application reviews, allowing the use of previously excluded registries, insurance claims, and EHR data.

GI Partners, TA Associates to launch Netsmart sale process in early 2026, sources say

The private equity owners of Netsmart will reportedly seek a buyer for the company for the second time.

Enjoin Acquires Pediatric Resource Group, Broadening its Expertise in APR-DRG Assurance, Clinical Documentation Integrity & Physician Advisor Solutions to Serve Children’s Hospitals

Clinical documentation improvement company Enjoin acquires Pediatric Resource Group, which offers pediatric clinical documentation integrity and physician advisory services.

Wyden Calls on Health Tech Companies to Add Privacy Features Letting Patients View and Control Access to Their Medical Records

Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) urges EHR vendors to adopt privacy features that give patients the ability to view and control access to their medical records.

Morning Headlines 12/16/25

Auxira Health Raises $7.8M in Seed Funding

Cardiology practice extension company Auxira Health raises $7.8 million in seed funding.

Sentact Acquires Performance Health Partners and Vizient Patient Safety Organization to Drive Patient Safety At-Scale

Sentact acquires event and incident management company Performance Health Partners and Vizient’s Patient Safety Organization.

Medical Software Company Agrees to Pay $500,000 to Resolve Allegations of Causing Medically Unnecessary Breast Cancer Screening Claims

PenRad Technologies will pay $530,000 to settle federal allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by inadvertently causing providers to bill Medicare and MassHealth for medically unnecessary breast cancer screenings.

Morning Headlines 12/15/25

VA Electronic Health Record Modernization: Critical Actions Needed to Support Accelerated System Deployments

A GAO report says that the VA must address several previously raised issues to support its accelerated Oracle Health rollout.

Mass General Brigham Announces New AI Company to Accelerate Clinical Trial Screening and Patient Recruitment

Mass General Brigham spins out AIwithCare, an AI-powered tool that matches patients to clinical trials.

Ritten Announces $35M Series B Investment Led by Five Elms Capital

Behavioral health IT vendor Ritten raises $35 million in Series B funding, bringing its total raised to $52.5 million.

Morning Headlines 12/12/25

Texas Files Antitrust Suit Against Epic Systems Over Health Data

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton files an antitrust and consumer protection petition alleging that Epic maintains monopoly power and that the company misleads Texas children’s hospitals about its parental access rules.

HHS health IT chief hints at a new approach to EHR certification

Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy and National Coordinator Thomas Keane, MD, MBA tells STAT he’s hoping his office will soon do away with 34 certification criteria for EHRs and modify seven, with an eye to regulating EHR interoperability APIs in the coming months.

The State of Enterprise AI

OpenAI’s “State of Enterprise AI” report names healthcare as one of the fastest-growing business sectors for ChatGPT use.

Morning Headlines 12/11/25

Cincinnati startup HerMD secures exit months after co-founders buy back business

Virtual health and wellness clinic Joi + Blokes acquires HerMD, expanding its virtual care reach to all 50 states.

MMH Announces Strategic Revenue Cycle Partnership to Support Future Growth and Strengthen Team Member Network

Margaret Mary Health (IN) will outsource its revenue cycle operations to Revology, laying off 55 employees in the process.

Competition Bureau obtains a court order to advance investigation into Well Health’s acquisition of Healwell

Canada’s Competition Bureau obtains a court order allowing it to move forward with its investigation of Well Health’s acquisition of Healwell, and if that acquisition has stifled competition within the AI transcription market.

Morning Headlines 12/10/25

Spare Tire raises $3M to save healthcare organizations from document downtime

Spare Tire, which offers on-demand access to inpatient historical data for workflow continuity during unplanned EHR downtime, raises $3 million in a Series A funding round.

Seattle startup Casera emerges from PSL to help hospital managers clear bottlenecks with help from AI

Casera launches out of Pioneer Square Labs with $1 million in funding to help hospitals improve patient flow via its case manager digital agent.

AngelEye Health Secures Additional $9 Million to Accelerate Innovation in Neonatal and Pediatric Care

Digital pediatric and neonatal patient and family engagement company AngelEye Health raises $9 million in a Series C funding round.