Today's Healthcare Pulse
Allogene Therapeutics CEO David Chang to step down
Allogene Therapeutics announced that chief executive David Chang will leave his role. The news was reported by STAT+ and echoed in a follow‑up piece covering broader pharma updates.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Boston Scientific invests $1.5B for 34% stake in MiRus
Baxter Cuts Roughly 90 Jobs at IV Solutions Plant that Recovered From Hurricane Helene
Baxter International announced it is cutting roughly 90 positions at its Marion, North Carolina IV solutions plant, representing about 3% of the site’s workforce. The facility, which supplies roughly 60% of U.S. IV fluids, recovered from Hurricane Helene damage but still faces demand that is 10‑15% below pre‑storm levels. CFO Joel Grade said fluid‑conservation practices are expected to persist through 2026. Despite the cuts, Baxter affirmed its commitment to the Marion site and its employees.
Oracle Expands Cloud SCM Capabilities to Address Complex Needs of Process Manufacturers
Oracle announced new capabilities in its Fusion Cloud SCM suite tailored for process manufacturers. The updates introduce AI‑assisted recipe synchronization, dynamic batch sizing, and granular yield modeling to handle blending, mixing, and batch‑based production. Enhanced traceability features include lot‑specific unit‑of‑measure...
Listen to the Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’
The KFF Health News Minute, a weekly health‑policy briefing, highlighted a range of pressing issues in February. It noted that the expiration of extra Affordable Care Act subsidies is leaving American farmers vulnerable, while hospitals are launching their own Medicare...
CommonSpirit Health at Home’s ‘Aggressive’ Hospice Growth Strategy for 2026 and Beyond
CommonSpirit Health at Home announced an aggressive hospice growth plan through 2026 and beyond, prioritizing de novo site launches and selective acquisitions. Leveraging its extensive health system network, the organization will shift upstream by using EHR‑based eligibility triggers to identify...
DDW Highlights: 10 February 2026
In this 15‑minute episode, DDW host Bruno Quinney recaps five major stories from the past week, highlighting breakthrough cancer therapies that promise greater efficacy and safety, and new research aimed at enhancing brain function in Alzheimer’s patients. He also touches...
Health First’s Carr Weaves Tapestry for Integrated Payer-Provider Platform
In this episode, Michael Carr, VP and CIO of Health First, discusses the organization’s integrated payer‑provider platform built on Epic’s suite, including the provider rollout and the Epic Tapestry health‑plan implementation. He highlights how consolidating nine disparate systems into a...
CDC's National Firefighter Registry for Cancer Is Now the Largest in the Nation
The episode announces that CDC’s National Firefighter Registry for Cancer (NFR) has surpassed 40,000 participants, making it the nation’s largest firefighter cohort for studying occupational cancer risk. It explains how the registry gathers detailed work histories and links them to...
The “R” In CRO: How and Why CROs Should Harness Open-Source R Software
Open‑source R is reshaping statistical programming in clinical trials, offering CROs a cost‑effective, flexible alternative to traditional licensed tools. Its extensive package ecosystem, combined with RMarkdown and Shiny, enables rapid automation, interactive reporting, and reproducible workflows. While sponsors are increasingly...
The ASC Sale-Leaseback Opportunity
Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) owners are increasingly using sale‑leasebacks to unlock the equity tied up in their buildings. By selling the property to an investor and signing a 10‑15‑year triple‑net lease, physicians retain operational control while converting real‑estate assets into...
Enhancing Health Data Sharing: Sequoia Project Publishes Guides for Automated Consent & Privacy Alignment
The Sequoia Project released two practical guides on February 9, 2026 to accelerate automated, computable patient consent across the United States. One guide provides model legislative language to align state‑level sensitive health‑data laws with national technical standards, while the second offers...
‘The New Normal’: Nursing Home M&A Is Being Shaped by Regional Operators, REITs, and Private Capital
The skilled‑nursing sector entered 2026 with strong occupancy and higher state reimbursements, restoring profitability for many facilities. Financing remains robust, but activity has shifted toward acquiring and refurbishing existing homes rather than new construction. Regional operators are snapping up underperforming...
💊 Hims & Hers: When the Growth Story Runs Into the Regulator
In this episode Edward Corona dissects the sudden 16% plunge of Hims & Hers Health (HIMS), linking it to a dual blow from GLP‑1 hype‑driven expectations and mounting legal and FDA scrutiny. He explains how lawsuits and regulatory pressure are...
Skilled Nursing Dealbook: Arizona Nonprofit Sells for $30M-Plus, Viventium Acquires Apploi
Evans Senior Investments brokered the sale of the nonprofit Glencroft Center for Modern Aging in Glendale, Arizona, fetching $30.15 million—about $134,000 per bed—despite a 47% occupancy rate and a 1‑star CMS rating. The deal doubled the seller’s expected proceeds by creating...
FDA’s New Guidance on Consumer Wearables Makes the Medtech Market More Complex
The FDA’s new guidance clarifies, rather than rewrites, the line between general‑wellness wearables and regulated medical devices, emphasizing intended use as the decisive factor. By allowing sensor‑rich products to remain unregulated if they avoid medical claims, the agency reduces regulatory...
A Guide to Cloud Cost Optimization in Healthcare
Healthcare providers are grappling with rising, unpredictable cloud costs as AI‑driven workloads expand. Experts from AWS and Trend Micro stress a hybrid approach, placing latency‑critical patient data on‑premises while leveraging cloud elasticity for analytics and AI training. Successful cost control...
Maine: Preliminary 2026 Open Enrollment Data Shows Rising Affordability Challenges for Mainers' Health Coverage
Maine’s state‑run CoverME.gov marketplace reported its lowest enrollment since launch, with 58,523 consumers signing up in 2026 – a 9.5% drop from the previous year. New customer registrations fell 24%, while the share of enrollees receiving Advance Premium Tax Credits...
Updated Documentation Requirements in Medicare Could Add Burden on Healthcare Providers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a regulatory update effective April 13 that expands documentation, face‑to‑face (F2F) and prior‑authorization requirements for Medicare‑covered DMEPOS items. Eight new oxygen‑related codes join the F2F/WOPD list, while seven additional items—five orthoses and...
Athenahealth and b.well Introduce Patient-Controlled Digital Health Data Sharing at the Point of Care
athenahealth and b.well Connected Health have launched a point‑of‑care workflow that lets patients share their health records digitally via a QR code, eliminating paper forms, faxes, and multiple portal logins. The solution integrates b.well’s patient‑controlled data aggregation with athenaOne, the...
EHR/PM Integration Biggest Satisfier for Ambulatory Software Suites, KLAS Finds
The episode reviews KLAS Research’s 2026 report on comprehensive ambulatory EHR and practice‑management (PM) suites, revealing that integration of clinical and financial workflows is the top driver of satisfaction for ambulatory organizations. The study of 176 providers shows 71% value...
Expert Insights: The True Cost of a Bad Telehealth Experience
The article argues that relying on "at‑the‑elbow" support to compensate for clunky telehealth platforms hides deeper usability problems. It highlights how bundled EHR video tools often lack essential workflow integration, forcing organizations to spend on training, staffing, and workarounds. These...
The Misleading Chart That Killed the ACA Subsidies
The episode dissects a misleading chart promoted by the Paragon Health Institute that Senate Majority Leader John Thune used to argue against extending ACA subsidies, claiming Obamacare premiums have skyrocketed. Health policy experts, including Brookings senior fellow Matthew Fiedler, explain that the...
Health Is Local, Until It’s Not
The healthcare industry still relies on geofencing, which ties patient records to a specific geographic zone, hindering data continuity when patients relocate. This limitation clashes with the push toward national interoperability championed by TEFCA and CMS frameworks. Experts argue that...
How Designing with Disability in Mind Sparks Innovation
The article argues that designing products and services with disability in mind catalyzes broader innovation. It cites early examples like the Safety Tub walk‑in bathtub, showing how solutions for seniors sparked new market categories. The authors, a mix of academic...
New Diagnostics Define Drug Targets for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Beyond
Amprion Diagnostics has commercialized a seed‑amplification assay, SAAmplify‑αSYN, that detects misfolded alpha‑synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid, earning FDA breakthrough‑device status in 2019. The test can identify Parkinson’s, Lewy‑body dementia and up to half of Alzheimer’s cases years before clinical symptoms appear....
CDC Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance Program Tops One Million Participants, Giving Clinical Labs Earlier Warning on Emerging Variants
The CDC’s Traveler‑Based Genomic Surveillance (TGS) program has crossed the one‑million‑volunteer threshold, marking a major expansion of upstream pathogen monitoring at U.S. airports. Launched in 2021, TGS combines anonymous nasal swabs from international arrivals with aircraft wastewater sampling, leveraging public‑private...
Strategic Insight: Carbon Health’s Boom, Bust, and Bankruptcy
Carbon Health surged during the pandemic, scaling from a few clinics to over 125 locations across 13 states by leveraging COVID‑19 testing sites and telehealth, and raising more than $600 million in venture capital, including a $350 million Series D at a $3.3 billion...
Innovative AI Solutions Sought in National Caregiver Challenge by HHS
The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has opened Phase 1 of its Caregiver AI Prize Competition, a $2 million federal challenge aimed at bolstering the U.S. caregiving workforce. Up to $2.5 million in prize funding will be awarded to as many as 20...
🩺 Molina Healthcare Deep Dive: When the Math Breaks, the Stock Pays the Price
In this episode, Edward Corona dissects Molina Healthcare’s disastrous earnings report, highlighting a stark mismatch between projected rates and actual costs that caused the stock to plunge over 25% in a single day. He breaks down the underlying financial math,...
Beyond the AI Hype in Health Care Services
The episode cuts through the hype surrounding AI in health care, focusing on real‑world evidence from three recent studies of large language models (LLMs). It highlights that LLMs can improve structured tasks like medication safety when used as a co‑pilot...
Will Oracle Offload Cerner to Fund Datacenters?
A TD Cowen note suggests Oracle could sell its health‑tech unit, formerly Cerner, to finance massive AI datacenter spend. The company faces over $500 billion in capital commitments, including a $300 billion OpenAI contract that alone may require $156 billion in capex. To free...
DispatchHealth, Saint Francis Health System Launch New Hospital-at-Home Program
DispatchHealth and Saint Francis Health System have launched a hospital‑at‑home program in eastern Oklahoma, allowing patients to receive full or partial acute care in their residences. The pilot currently treats five to six patients daily, with a virtual unit capacity...
Homewatch CareGivers CEO On Engaging Clients Beyond Their Caregiver
Homewatch CareGivers, now operating 302 offices in 43 U.S. states and Latin America, plans to add roughly 40 new locations each year through 2028, targeting markets like Hawaii, Alaska and Maine. CEO Todd Houghton is centering the growth strategy on...
Omega Execs Tout Nursing Home Operator Credit Quality, Predict Strong 2026, Offer Genesis Sale Updates
Omega Healthcare Investors reported a stronger‑than‑expected fourth‑quarter 2025, posting EPS of $0.55 versus the $0.49 consensus and adjusted FFO of $0.80 per share, beating estimates. The REIT lifted its 2026 AFFO outlook to $3.15‑$3.25 per share, slightly above analyst expectations....
Next Step Properties Placed in Receivership, iCare Tasked With Interim Operations
Eleven of Next Step Healthcare's fourteen Massachusetts nursing homes have been placed in court‑appointed receivership after landlords reported nearly $15 million in unpaid rent and $3 million owed to lenders. Audits show chronic late payments and inspection failures that jeopardized resident safety....
Ep. 3 - Appropriations Bill, FTC Settlement and TrumpRx Updates: What We Know So Far
In this 17‑minute episode, Mike and Madison break down three hot federal health‑care topics: the upcoming appropriations bill and its potential impact on pharmacy‑benefit funding, the recent FTC settlement affecting pharmacy benefit managers, and the latest developments surrounding TrumpRx. They...
You Don’t Need Your EMR: Inside the Next Phase of Home-Based Care
Tallio’s AI operating system has replaced the traditional EMR at Caring Seasons Health, slashing admission processing from three‑plus hours to just 68 minutes. The platform automates documentation, cutting overall paperwork time by roughly 75% and delivering near‑perfect clean claim rates....
CMS’ Roadmap for Switching to FHIR-Based Digital Quality Measures
CMS announced a roadmap to transition its quality measurement programs from eCQMs to FHIR‑based digital quality measures (dQMs). The agency released draft dQM packages covering 17 inpatient, 4 outpatient, and 49 clinician measures and opened a public comment period through...
Epic’s Infection Prevention Module Needs More TLC Than Others, KLAS Finds
The February 2026 KLAS report reveals that Epic’s infection prevention module, Buggy, lags behind all other Epic inpatient products with an overall performance score of 80.6, and shows a stark divide between IT (91.4) and infection preventionist (73.9) satisfaction. Key...
From Photo Film Maker To Biopharma Giant
Fujifilm Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of the historic photo‑film maker, opened a 150‑acre, commercial‑scale biopharma manufacturing campus in Holly Springs, North Carolina, investing over $3.2 billion. The first phase features eight 20,000‑liter mammalian cell‑culture bioreactors, with a second phase slated to double...
The U.S. Poison Center Network
The episode explores the U.S. Poison Control Center Network, tracing its history from the first center in 1953 to the modern system of 53 accredited centers serving all states. It highlights a new RAND study that quantifies the network’s value...
Why Exercise Beats Longevity Hacks W/ Dr. Jordan Metzl, Author, The Athlete's Book of Home Remedies
In this episode, host John Driscoll talks with sports‑medicine physician Dr. Jordan Metzl about why regular exercise is the most effective "drug" for extending healthspan, outpacing the myriad longevity supplements and hacks on the market. Dr. Metzl explains how strength...
Pay Is the Pressure Point as Clinical Labs Compete for Scarce Talent
Clinical laboratories are confronting a severe talent shortage, with salary now the single most influential factor for prospective hires, according to LinkedIn data. While pay remains critical, labs are increasingly forced to market flexibility, work‑life balance, and career‑growth pathways to...
Emergency Department Healthcare Challenge Opens Call for Wearable Technologies
DigitalHealth.London and the Health Innovation Network South London have launched a Healthcare Challenge seeking wearable technologies to improve safety and efficiency in Emergency Departments. The programme targets solutions that provide continuous physiological monitoring, early deterioration alerts, actionable insights, and equitable...