The Blueprint for Commercializing Breakthrough Healthtech
AI‑driven medtech firms must prove tangible ROI for patients, providers and payers to move from lab to bedside. Brent Ness outlines three pillars—capital efficiency with payer alignment, rigorous evidence and reimbursement pathways, and operational scalability paired with strong IP—that determine commercial success. Real‑world examples such as HeartFlow and emerging spine‑care tools illustrate how precise, cost‑saving diagnostics can unlock payer support. Ultimately, disciplined spending, clear clinical impact and seamless workflow integration are the keys to turning breakthrough technology into standard‑of‑care.
NACHC Announces Center for Mobile Health to Advance Mobile Healthcare Delivery
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) unveiled the Center for Mobile Health, a dedicated hub to accelerate mobile health programs across community health centers. Backed by the Leon Lowenstein Foundation, Direct Relief and mobile‑vehicle firms, the Center will...
Transfer Delays Tied to Worse Acute Stroke Intervention Results
A new Lancet Neurology study of 22,410 ischemic‑stroke patients shows that door‑in‑door‑out (DIDO) times exceeding the 90‑minute guideline are tied to poorer functional outcomes and lower rates of endovascular therapy. Patients with DIDO intervals of 91‑180 minutes, 181‑270 minutes, and...
Cutting-Edge Technologies Are Poised to Transform Orthopedics
Orthopedic surgery is rapidly adopting AI, robotic assistance, VR/AR and wearable digital tools, shifting from experimental concepts to routine practice. AI now supports imaging interpretation, predictive risk modeling, personalized surgical planning, training simulations and remote postoperative monitoring. Robotic platforms improve...
An Oral Mucosa‐Inspired Wet‐Adhesion Janus Hydrogel With Asymmetric Bifunctionalities of Antifouling/Antioxidant for Treating Oral Ulcer in Diabetes
Researchers have engineered a wet‑adhesion Janus hydrogel (WAJH) that mimics oral mucosa to treat diabetic oral ulcers. The hydrogel features an antifouling agar/polyacrylamide layer and a tannic‑acid‑rich adhesive layer, delivering adhesion energies of 15 J m⁻² and 316 J m⁻² respectively. Its antioxidant tannic...
CharmHealth Advances Its AI Strategy With MCP Server
CharmHealth introduced its Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, a secure, standardized interface that lets AI applications access electronic health record (EHR) data directly within the clinician’s workflow. The server translates natural‑language requests from large language models into structured EHR interactions,...
How One Health System Attained a Patient Safety Milestone: Zero CAUTI Infections
North Country Healthcare, an alliance of three critical‑access hospitals in New Hampshire, launched the staff‑driven "Lines and Drains" project using its Meditech Expanse EHR to standardize catheter documentation and create real‑time performance dashboards. By redesigning workflows, linking orders to worklists,...
VCU Health on Hospital-at-Home and RPM Governance
VCU Health, Virginia’s first hospital‑at‑home (HaH) provider, is showcasing its digital‑health journey at HIMSS 2026. Director David Collins will detail how lessons from the adult HaH and remote patient monitoring (RPM) programs shaped a governance framework for a new NICU RPM...
Frist Cressey Ventures Raises $425M Fund to Invest in AI-Native Care
Frist Cressey Ventures closed an oversubscribed $425 million Fund IV, lifting its assets under management close to $1 billion. The new fund zeroes in on early‑stage, AI‑native healthcare companies that can reshape care delivery. Strategic limited partners such as Cigna, MedStar Health and...
Medline Addresses Bed Fire Risk Linked to Death
Medline is revising usage instructions for its home‑care adjustable beds after the FDA documented safety incidents involving hand‑control pendants that sparked, melted or ignited, and entrapment hazards from third‑party accessories. The agency recorded 12 injuries and two deaths—one fire‑related and...
From DNA To Decision
Rapid functional testing is turning ambiguous genetic variants into actionable medical decisions. A zebrafish model proved a newborn‑identified SMN1 mutation benign, allowing clinicians to defer costly SMA therapy. This proof‑of‑concept shows whole‑genome sequencing can move from data to diagnosis within...
Ambient AI in the Exam Room: For Better Care and Better Caring
Leonard Calabrese argues that ambient artificial intelligence—low‑cost, always‑on tools integrated into the exam room—can free clinicians from the constant EMR distraction and restore genuine face‑to‑face interaction. By handling routine documentation and patient‑message drafting, AI lets physicians focus on non‑verbal cues...
Digital Path Practices Reflected in Latest Checklist Changes
The College of American Pathologists issued the 2025 accreditation checklist on Dec. 9, adding a new “Digital Pathology Including Remote Data Assessment” section. The revision requires laboratories to validate digital pathology systems, document remote review locations, and treat remote CLIA‑certified sites...
Deploying AI 'Allows Doctors to Be Doctors' Again
Innovaccer released the whitepaper "Autonomous Healthcare" outlining AI’s role in alleviating clinicians’ administrative load. The report highlights AI‑powered documentation, scheduling, and data integration tools that can reclaim up to 30% of physicians’ time. CEO Abhinav Shashank argues that these efficiencies...
Rox Heart Radio: Why AI?
Rox Heart Radio released a new episode titled “Why AI?” featuring host Roxana Mehran in conversation with cardiology researchers Ami Bhatt and Rohan Khera. The trio explores how artificial intelligence is poised to reshape cardiovascular care, from imaging interpretation to risk prediction....
Innovation in Ophthalmology: How Biotechs Are Reshaping the Treatment of Eye Diseases
Vision loss remains a leading disability, prompting biotech firms to shift from symptom‑management to disease‑modifying therapies. Gene‑replacement approaches using AAV vectors dominate the inherited retinal disease pipeline, highlighted by Luxturna’s success and multiple late‑stage candidates such as Beacon’s laru‑zova and...
Livi Partners with CloudFit to Bridge Healthcare and Holistic Wellbeing Through AI-Powered Preventative Health Platform
Livi, Europe’s leading digital‑first healthcare provider, has partnered with AI‑driven holistic platform CloudFit to launch an integrated preventative health solution. The collaboration lets Livi GPs refer patients to CloudFit’s fitness, nutrition and lifestyle coaching, creating a continuous care loop between...
Lab Reins in Magnesium Tests with Decision Support
Washington University in St. Louis deployed a clinical decision‑support workflow to curb over‑ordering of inpatient magnesium tests, a high‑volume assay often ordered by default on daily order sets. Analysis of Epic data showed half of the orders were routine "AM...
A New Era For Blindness Treatment Is Within Sight
A wave of clinical trials is testing stem‑cell, gene‑editing and bionic‑eye technologies to treat blindness, especially retinitis pigmentosa and dry age‑related macular degeneration. Early‑stage studies from UC Davis, BlueRock Therapeutics and the University of Michigan report measurable vision gains, such as...
Agentic Siri From Apple Benefits for Healthcare Technology
Apple’s new Apple Intelligence platform transforms Siri into an autonomous, agentic health assistant that blends on‑device generative models with Private Cloud Compute. The system can traverse HealthKit, Mail, and other apps to execute multi‑step clinical tasks, from real‑time vitals monitoring...
Overloaded with Patient Records? How MVSPlus Keeps You Organized
Healthcare providers are drowning in ever‑growing patient records, leading to missed follow‑ups, delayed appointments, and staff burnout. MVSPlus offers a dedicated virtual assistant that cleans, updates, and organizes charts in real time, integrating seamlessly with existing workflows. By handling routine...
Pathologists, Vendors Talk LIS-IMS Integration
Pathology labs are accelerating digital transformation, but integrating laboratory information systems (LIS) with imaging management systems (IMS) remains a hurdle. Cybersecurity and image management top the agenda as AI-driven diagnostics expand. Cloud‑based LIS‑IMS solutions promise stronger security controls and scalable...
Red and Blue States Alike Want To Limit AI in Insurance. Trump Wants To Limit the States.
A bipartisan wave of state legislation is targeting the use of artificial intelligence in health‑insurance decisions, with at least nine states passing or proposing limits on AI‑driven claim denials and prior authorizations. President Trump’s December executive order seeks to preempt...
Portal Diabetes’ Insulin Pump Receives FDA Breakthrough Device Designation
Portal Diabetes has secured FDA breakthrough device designation for its implantable Portal Pump, an insulin delivery system that pairs an abdominal pump with continuous glucose monitoring and concentrated insulin. The company also launched a Phase I study of temperature‑stable Portal Insulin...
ScribeRyte ClickNote Seamlessly Flows AI-Generated SOAP Notes Into Browser-Based EMRs
ScribeRyte AI introduced ClickNote, a free Chrome extension that automatically inserts AI‑generated SOAP notes into any browser‑based EMR. The tool leverages ambient speech technology, multilingual support, and HIPAA‑secure protocols to streamline documentation. ScribeRyte claims providers can reclaim up to ten...
Routes Healthcare Unifies a Complex SaaS and ERP Landscape with BPA Platform to Strengthen Operations and Continuity
Routes Healthcare, a leading health and social care provider in northern England, adopted the BPA Platform to integrate its Sage 200 ERP with a wide range of SaaS applications. The low‑code integration layer unified data, automated workforce communication, recruitment, and...
Find Public Health Resources Succeeds Initial User Testing
UK Health Security Agency’s Find Public Health Resources service has completed its alpha assessment, satisfying all 14 government service standards. The platform offers an e‑commerce‑style interface allowing health professionals and the public to locate, download, and order vaccination and infectious...
NHS Business Services Authority Improves Online Baby Loss Certification
The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) has completed a beta reassessment of its Baby Loss Certificate service, achieving compliance with all 14 government service standards. The digital service, created after the Pregnancy Loss Review, now offers bereaved parents formal recognition...
Low-Value X-Ray Imaging for Facial Trauma Still Prevalent, Despite CT’s Superiority
A new JAMA Network Open study of 281,000 U.S. facial‑trauma patients shows that 26% still receive plain X‑ray as the first imaging test, despite CT being the gold‑standard for fracture detection. Use of low‑value radiographs has fallen from 33% in...
NB Releases New Digital Health Strategy
New Brunswick’s government unveiled a comprehensive digital health strategy aimed at creating a modern, connected, and patient‑centred system. The plan expands the “digital front door,” modernizes electronic health records, and introduces AI‑driven tools to streamline provider workflows. It allocates a...
Dennis Giokas Now CPO at Alifor
Dennis Giokas has been appointed chief product officer at Alifor, a Toronto‑based clinical operating system that integrates AI scribes, decision support and workflow tools. Giokas will steer product development, integration strategy and the global rollout of Alifor’s EMR‑agnostic platform. He...
INOVAIT Announces Innovation Award Winners
INOVAIT announced the 2025/26 award winners at its Ottawa meeting, honoring Altis Labs with the Maple Leaf Award for AI imaging collaborations, Nova Scotia Health with the Aurora Borealis Award for industry‑academic synergy, and Profound Medical with the Mount Logan...
NS Trucks Paper Records to Ontario
Nova Scotia Health is sending about 900 boxes of paper health records to Iron Mountain in Toronto for digitization as part of its effort to clear a massive backlog ahead of the One Person One Record rollout. Employees and the...
NWT Looks at Acquiring MRI Scanner
The Northwest Territories is conducting a feasibility study to install an MRI scanner at Yellowknife’s Stanton Territorial Hospital, aiming to end the practice of sending patients to Alberta for scans. Health Minister Lesa Semmler highlighted that the study will assess...
Infoway Pulls the Plug on PrescribeIT
Canada Health Infoway announced that its e‑prescribing platform PrescribeIT will be discontinued on May 29, ending a program that has cost more than $250 million since its 2017 launch. The service never achieved scale, with fewer than 5 percent of prescriptions routed through...
AI-Powered MRI Evaluations Predict STEMI Outcomes Better than Existing Risk Scores
A machine‑learning model that combines cardiac MRI data with clinical variables predicts long‑term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in STEMI patients more accurately than the GRACE and TIMI scores. The study analyzed 1,066 patients, training on 682 cases and testing...
Enlil Launches Milestone View for Its Medtech Product Lifecycle Traceability Software
Enlil unveiled Milestone View, the industry’s first evidence‑based milestone interface for medical device product development. The new capability embeds directly within Enlil’s unified traceability platform, linking each milestone to underlying requirements, design outputs, risk controls, change histories and regulatory evidence....
Timing Is Critical when Using Ultrasound for Pediatric UTI Cases
New research from the Advocate Aurora Research Institute suggests that the timing of renal and bladder ultrasounds in hospitalized infants and young children with febrile urinary tract infections (UTIs) significantly affects diagnostic accuracy. Ultrasounds performed within 24 hours of the last...
PCCI CEO Steve Miff on the 4 Pillars of a Trustworthy AI Framework
Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation (PCCI) unveiled a four‑pillar framework—prediction transparency, performance transparency, security transparency, and compliance—to ensure trustworthy AI throughout model lifecycles. The framework underpins 14 production models and several in testing, supported by tools like the Islet visualizer...
99% Accuracy, 75% Less Manual Work: Inside One Hospice’s HOPE Secret Weapon
Anchor Health, a California hospice provider, adopted Vitalis’s Ray tool to meet the Medicare‑mandated HOPE compliance requirements. Ray pulls real‑time data from the HOPE dashboard, delivering roughly 99% accuracy while cutting manual tracking effort by about 75%. In a pilot,...
Pinterest and Maven Team up to Provide Menopause Support to Employees
Pinterest has partnered with Maven Clinic to launch a unified menopause, fertility and parenting support platform for its workforce. The initiative aims to curb the $1.8 billion productivity loss attributed to menopause‑related disruptions in 2023. By consolidating care into a single...
Transforming Patient Care: The Role of AI and Data Literacy in a New Era
FINN Partners released an eBook titled “Human‑First Health Information,” arguing that healthcare is moving beyond static electronic health records to AI‑driven, adaptive tools. The authors claim AI can cut clinician workload, personalize treatment, and turn massive data streams into actionable...
How Digital Health Platforms Are Transforming Access to Time-Sensitive Care
Digital health platforms are reshaping time-sensitive care by streamlining scheduling, triage, and data integration. They enable remote consultations, automated intake, and real‑time record sharing, reducing wait times and geographic barriers. Clinical oversight remains central, with licensed providers reviewing algorithmic recommendations...
From the President’s Desk
In his February 2026 presidential column, Dr. Qihui‑Jim Zhai urges the pathology community to embrace digital pathology and AI tools rather than wait for perfect solutions. He argues that resistance risks being left behind as laboratories worldwide adopt these technologies to...
TAVR Linked to Higher Reintervention Rate than SAVR in Evolut Low Risk Trial Update
A six‑year update of the Medtronic‑funded Evolut Low Risk trial shows that transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) with a self‑expanding valve has a higher reintervention rate than surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) in low‑risk patients—5.5% versus 3.3% at six years,...
Mass General Brigham Evaluates Emerging Healthcare Technologies
Mass General Brigham is actively scouting emerging health technologies, with AI‑assisted robotics at the forefront. The system envisions robots handling specimen transport, medication delivery, and post‑operative equipment sterilization to ease staff workload and reduce sharps injuries. A limited COVID‑era pilot...
Alan Launches Alan Clinic in Canada: Bringing Mental Health Care Directly Into the Insurance App
Alan has launched Alan Clinic, an in‑app mental health support service for its Ontario members, embedding licensed talk therapy directly into its digital insurance platform. The offering provides secure video sessions, scheduling, and payment within a single app, bypassing public...
How CathWorks Leaned on Its Partner Medtronic to Succeed
CathWorks, an AI‑driven startup that creates non‑invasive FFR assessments from routine angiograms, survived the pandemic by leaning on Medtronic’s early minority investment and strategic guidance. After automating its 3‑D coronary modeling to cut analysis time from 22 minutes to two,...
FDA Clears 12-Lead, Cable-Free Home ECG Monitoring System
The FDA granted 510(k) clearance for HeartBeam’s cable‑free 12‑lead ECG synthesis software, allowing home‑based arrhythmia assessment. The system captures cardiac signals in three non‑coplanar dimensions and reconstructs a full 12‑lead trace that can be reviewed by board‑certified cardiologists on demand....
First Ever The Surgeon Show to Take Place in London This Week
The Surgeon Show 2026, the first UK‑focused surgical summit, convenes on 20 February at London’s Minster Building. Invitation‑only, it gathers over 60 leading surgeons, clinicians, policymakers and technology innovators from more than 50 health organisations. The one‑day event, backed by...