Getting Smart With Virtual Assistants in Healthcare
Mayo Clinic launched an in‑house Nurse Virtual Assistant, a generative AI tool that instantly curates patient records and policy information for nurses. The initiative demonstrates a problem‑first approach, targeting clinician workflow inefficiencies rather than shoehorning technology. The article expands the conversation to consumer‑facing virtual assistants, noting how intelligent assistants can streamline call routing, website navigation, and appointment scheduling. It also highlights three IVA breakthroughs—advanced language models, low‑latency responses, and agentic AI—that are reshaping healthcare contact centers.
Florida Law Models What Genetic Disease Testing Could Be
Florida enacted the Sunshine Genetics Act, creating the nation’s first state‑backed newborn whole‑genome sequencing program. The five‑year pilot will offer free opt‑in testing to 100,000 infants, funded by a mix of private and state resources, and establishes a new Institute...
Respiratory Care, Stroke Care, and Women’s Health: Philips CMO on the Exciting Possibilities in Digital Health
Philips Chief Medical Officer Dr. Carla Goulart Peron outlined the company’s push into digital health, emphasizing expanded CPAP and respiratory solutions integrated with consumer wearables. She highlighted AI’s role in early detection, especially for stroke and women’s heart disease, while...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...