Iowa 1st to Fully Allocate Year 1 Rural Health Funds
Iowa became the first state to fully allocate its initial $209 million from the Rural Health Transformation Program, earmarked for workforce development, cancer research, prevention, and hospital grants. Governor Kim Reynolds added a $50 million state investment to expand physician residency programs. Over five years, Iowa is projected to receive more than $1 billion to improve rural health outcomes and address workforce shortages. The $50 billion federal program will distribute $10 billion annually to all states from 2026 to 2030.
Duke Health Names Ophthalmology Chair
Duke Health announced that Dr. SriniVas Sadda will become chair of its Department of Ophthalmology effective November 10. Currently the A. Ray Irvine, Jr., MD Endowed Chair at the Doheny Eye Institute and a professor at UCLA, Sadda brings a...
Health Insurer CEOs Could Face Criminal Liability for Denials that Lead to Injury, Death Under Pennsylvania Bill
Pennsylvania lawmakers have introduced House Bill 2611, which would add a new aggravated‑assault category to the state criminal code to hold health‑insurer CEOs personally liable if an adverse benefit determination—such as a denial or reduced payment—leads to serious bodily injury...
What the Revenue Cycle Leaders of 2030 Will Know
Becker’s Hospital Review surveyed top revenue‑cycle executives about the skills needed for 2030. Respondents agree the role will evolve from today’s operational focus to an orchestrator who manages AI agents, APIs, and data as a strategic intelligence engine. AI will...
FDA Immunotherapy Approvals Fell in 2025: 5 Things to Know
The FDA approved 13 new cancer immunotherapies in 2025, a drop from 22 approvals in 2024, according to the Cancer Research Institute’s annual report. Over the past 14 years the agency has cleared 156 immunotherapies, with immune‑checkpoint inhibitors making up...
Banner Taps Longtime Leader as Hospital CEO
Banner Health announced Meiko Onken will become CEO of its Casa Grande Medical Center in Arizona on June 22. Onken, who joined Banner in 2002, most recently served as COO of Banner‑University Medicine Tucson, overseeing two campuses for five years....
Mayo Joins Federal Program to Bring AI-Guided Procedures to Rural Patients
Mayo Clinic has joined ARPA‑H’s PARADIGM program to develop AI‑guided tools that enable hospital‑level procedures in rural settings. Working with SRI International and the University of Florida, Mayo is creating computer‑vision systems that guide clinicians through tasks such as blood...
UnityPoint Cut Maternal Sepsis Deaths to 0 with Epic Care Path
UnityPoint Health reduced its maternal sepsis mortality rate from 3.2% to zero by integrating pregnancy‑specific detection criteria into Epic’s electronic health record. The 35‑hospital system, which delivers over 20,000 babies annually, treated 133 pregnant and postpartum patients during the first...
Struggling Mississippi Hospital Gets OK for New Owner
The Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning board approved the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) to take over Greenwood Leflore Hospital, donating the property so UMMC incurs no asset purchase cost. The hospital, which filed Chapter 9 bankruptcy in April, faces...
Less Resilience Training, More Connection: A Different Path to Increasing Physician and Leadership Engagement
Rady Children’s Health in Orange County redirected a portion of its clinical revenue into a wellness‑through‑leadership program for its pediatric subspecialty faculty. Over six months, 25 division chiefs and board members completed the course, leading to a significant drop in...
Hospital Margins Lag as Expense Growth Outpaces Inflation: 5 Notes
Hospital operating margins nudged up to 2.5% in April but remain far below the 3.5% level seen in May 2025, leaving a four‑point year‑to‑date gap versus last year. Revenue per day rose 8% YoY while overall expenses grew 7%, with...
Every Safety Event Has a Cultural Backstory – The Hidden Cost of Dominant Leadership in Healthcare
A recent study in the Journal of Applied Psychology shows that leaders who rely on dominance and control foster a zero‑sum mindset among staff, eroding helping behaviors. In healthcare, where teamwork is essential, this cultural shift can impede information sharing...
Hiring, Pay and Restructuring: 4 HR Leaders on Difficult Workforce Decisions
Health system leaders across the U.S. disclosed the toughest workforce decisions they faced in the past year, ranging from organizational restructuring and hiring freezes to market‑based pay adjustments. At Luminis Health, CHRO Amy Beales highlighted the challenge of standardizing practices...
The Week in Hospital M&A
Novant Health received county approval to acquire the 133‑bed Northern Regional Hospital in Surry County, North Carolina, pending further regulatory clearance. Baptist Health completed its purchase of the 151‑bed South Arkansas Regional Hospital in El Dorado, bringing its network to...
A New Medical School Is Opening Nearby. What Do Health Systems Do First?
A wave of new medical schools is opening across the U.S., including Chicago's first in a century, a Bay‑Area MD program, and Delaware's inaugural MD campus. Health‑system leaders see these schools as a strategic pipeline to mitigate the projected 86,000‑physician...
‘Snowbirds’ and ‘Med-À-Terres’: The Market Behaviors Shaping Systems’ Growth Decisions
Health systems are accelerating expansion into Sun Belt states, especially Florida, to capture the influx of retirees and "snowbirds" who are relocating. At the same time, affluent retirees are purchasing secondary homes—dubbed "med-à-terres"—near their long‑time specialist physicians in cities like...
Hospitals and Health Systems Moving to New EHR Platforms
Hospitals and health systems across the United States are accelerating electronic health record (EHR) migrations, with major rollouts of Meditech Expanse, Epic, Oracle Health and emerging platforms like Juno Health. Notable moves include HCA Capital Division completing Meditech Expanse, the...
EHR-Based Marker Flags Transplant Patients at Risk of Organ Rejection
Researchers from Mount Sinai Health System and Texas Children’s Hospital validated the Medication Level Variability Index, an objective marker derived from routine immunosuppressant blood levels, to flag adolescents and young adults at high risk of organ rejection due to medication...
Medicaid Work Rules Are Coming. Here’s How Insurers Are Stepping Up
Medicaid work requirements under HR 1 will take effect in 2027, compelling low‑income adults to meet community‑engagement or employment standards. Insurers such as Centene, Independence Health Group and Aetna are launching grant programs, workforce‑support apps, and partnership centers to help members...
The Slow Erosion of the Traditional Provider Network
Employers are shifting from fully insured to self‑funded and level‑funded plans, driving a surge in alternative payment models that bypass traditional provider networks. From 2015 to 2025, self‑funded coverage among small firms rose from 17% to 27%, while level‑funded enrollment...
104 Health Systems Ranked by Annual Revenue
Revenue across U.S. health systems continued to rise in 2025, with the top 10 providers posting mid‑ to high‑single‑digit growth. Kaiser Permanente led the list with $127.7 billion, followed by HCA Healthcare at $75.6 billion and CommonSpirit Health at $40.1 billion. Double‑digit gains...
Forrest Health AI Flags 173 Lung Nodules in Epic in 6 Weeks
Forrest Health, a Hattiesburg‑based system, embedded an AI lung‑nodule detector into its Epic electronic health record. In the first six weeks the tool flagged 173 incidental nodules, many identified during unrelated emergency‑room visits. A dedicated navigator reviews each alert, verifies...
Baptist Health AI Coding Cuts Chart Review 20%, Saves $924K
Baptist Health in Jacksonville deployed Epic’s AI Professional Billing Coding Assistant, cutting coder chart‑review time by 20% and generating roughly $924,000 in annual labor savings. The tool surfaces suggested codes, allowing coders to validate rather than build claims from scratch,...
19 Health Systems Partnering with Amazon One Medical — and Where Each Relationship Stands
Amazon’s $3.9 billion acquisition of One Medical has spurred a rapid expansion of health‑system partnerships, now totaling 19 collaborators across the United States. The network includes long‑standing ties such as Dignity Health in Phoenix and newer alliances like Cleveland Clinic’s co‑branded...
Mississippi Hospital Taps CEO
Jeremy Cummins has been appointed chief executive officer of Noxubee Medical Complex in Macon, Mississippi. Cummins previously served as administrator of The Carrington Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Starkville. The complex operates Noxubee General Hospital, a county nursing home, three...
Alabama System Disputes It Denied Suspect Care Before Nurse’s Killing
A civil lawsuit filed by the mother of Matthew James Taylor alleges DCH Health System refused emergency psychiatric evaluation and treatment on May 12, 2026, before Taylor allegedly obtained a firearm and fatally shot nurse Ada Doss. DCH disputes the...
North Carolina Bill Advances with CEO Pay Cap, Drops Hospital Merger Oversight Provision
The North Carolina Senate Health Care Committee advanced Senate Bill 978, which would cap nonprofit hospital CEO compensation at 400 times the lowest‑paid full‑time employee’s wage and impose civil penalties for violations. The bill also bans non‑compete clauses for clinicians...
5 Updates From UPMC Enterprises’ Health Tech Portfolio
UPMC Enterprises, the venture arm of Pittsburgh’s UPMC, announced five major health‑tech moves. Abridge launched an AI‑native clinician intelligence platform with Nvidia and began enterprise rollout at Northwestern Medicine. Koda Health closed a Series A round backed by UPMC, now serving...
7 Large Health Systems Selling Hospitals
Hospital divestitures are accelerating as major health systems grapple with operating losses, staffing shortages, and shifting reimbursement models. CommonSpirit Health, Community Health Systems, ScionHealth, Providence, Trinity Health, Quorum Health, and Franciscan Alliance have announced or completed sales of dozens of...
UVA Health Hospital Taps CEO; CAO Steps Down
UVA Health University Medical Center announced Tammy Snyder as its new chief executive officer, effective August 3, replacing interim leader Kathy Baker. Snyder arrives from Rochester Regional Health, where she oversaw a $2 billion operating budget and 8,000 staff. The hospital also...
The Hidden Disparity Built Into Healthcare Interoperability
Healthcare interoperability promises faster, coordinated care, but its all‑or‑nothing design forces vulnerable patients to hide entire records. Immigrant, homeless and substance‑use populations often refuse data sharing out of fear of stigma, leading to lower‑quality treatment. Dr. Hannah Galvin highlights this...
Christus Consolidates Inpatient Services at Texas Hospital
Christus Health is moving all inpatient services from its Pine Street campus in Texarkana to the main St. Michael Hospital location, with the transition slated for completion by July 1. The Pine Street facility will cease inpatient care on June 30 but...
Health AI Regulation Gaps Span Scribes, Prior Authorization: 5 Notes
A Bipartisan Policy Center report reveals that most health‑AI tools in use today are administrative applications such as ambient scribes and prior‑authorization systems, which fall outside the traditional FDA oversight applied to clinical devices. The report maps a fragmented regulatory...
CMS Floats Permanent Status for Medicare Drug Price Negotiations: 5 Things to Know
CMS announced a proposed rule that would cement the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program as permanent regulation, moving it out of guidance and into formal rulemaking. The rule sets a ceiling of up to 20 high‑cost, single‑source drugs per negotiation...
Elevance Sues Former Chief Execution Officer over Noncompete Agreement
Elevance Health filed a lawsuit in an Indiana federal court accusing former chief execution officer Shane Hochradel of breaching a 12‑month noncompete by joining rival Medicare Advantage insurer Alignment Healthcare just weeks after resigning. Elevance alleges Hochradel will leverage confidential...
California Healthcare District Board Member Resigns to Apply for CEO Role
Greg Rodriguez stepped down from the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation board on June 11 to apply for the district’s chief executive officer position. The move follows the board’s unanimous vote on May 26 to terminate CEO Chris Christensen. Rodriguez,...
ChristianaCare Hospital President Exits, Steps Into CEO Role
LeRoi Hicks, MD, is leaving ChristianaCare after a 12‑year tenure to become executive vice president and chief executive officer of the American College of Physicians (ACP) on July 6. He previously served as chair of medicine and president of ChristianaCare Wilmington...
Missouri System Taps Interim Market Leader Following 4-Hospital Deal
Freeman Health System appointed Kory Browning as interim market president for its Arkansas market, effective June 14. Browning, currently CEO of Freeman Health System‑Springdale Medical Center, brings more than a decade of healthcare leadership experience. The move follows Freeman’s $110 million...
VHC Health Impacted by Vendor Phishing Attack
VHC Health, a hospital system in Arlington, Virginia, suffered a data breach after its vendor Xsolis fell victim to a targeted phishing attack on Jan. 20, 2024. The breach exposed files that may have contained patients' names, addresses, dates of...
Judy Faulkner Wins Cambridge Health Alliance’s Art of Healing Award
Epic founder and CEO Judy Faulkner received Cambridge Health Alliance’s Art of Healing Award, recognizing her philanthropic support for the safety‑net system. Epic’s charitable contributions have funded patient‑access programs and helped renovate CHA’s Birth Center. The award highlights a two‑decade...
Nvidia, Aetna, Cigna, Eli Lilly: Abridge’s New Partnerships Make Good on Its Name
Abridge announced strategic partnerships with Nvidia, Cigna, Aetna and Eli Lilly, shifting its focus from a documentation tool to a full‑scale healthcare intelligence platform. The Nvidia deal will create a foundation model for clinical conversations, while the payers aim to link...
Healthcare Faces ‘Watershed Moment’ with Costs Jumping 9% in 2027: 7 Things to Know
PwC’s latest "Health Behind the Numbers" report warns that commercial healthcare costs will jump 9% in 2027, the steepest rise in 17 years, and could push total U.S. health spending to $9 trillion annually by 2035. The surge is driven by...
Medicare Advantage Spending Flagged as Hospital Fund Depletion Moves Up: 4 Notes
The 2026 Medicare and Social Security Trustees Report projects the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will only fully cover Medicare Part A benefits through the second quarter of 2033, a quarter earlier than last year’s estimate. At that point, the fund...
A New Player Enters Clinician Turf Wars
The clinical workforce is now grappling with artificial intelligence as a new stakeholder in long‑standing physician versus advanced‑practice‑provider turf wars. Utah’s Doctronic pilot lets AI autonomously recommend prescription renewals for 192 common drugs, with physicians confirming 91% of the AI’s...
Oracle Health Targets Double-Digit Growth with New AI EHR
Oracle Health aims for double‑digit revenue growth in fiscal 2027, driven by an AI‑powered overhaul of its Cerner electronic health record platform. The company reported record fiscal 2026 results, with total revenue of $67.4 billion, up 17 percent year over year. CEO Mike Cecilia...
AI and Healthcare Jobs: 5 Predictions From Economists
Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal argue that AI will reshape healthcare employment rather than eliminate it. AI is expected to lower entry barriers for certain clinical roles, such as nurse practitioners using diagnostic tools, while amplifying high‑expertise positions...
Anthropic Wants the Government to Be Able to Shut Down AI that Threatens Hospitals
Anthropic released two policy frameworks urging the U.S. government to grant regulators authority to block or deter deployment of frontier AI systems that could threaten critical infrastructure, especially hospitals. The Advanced AI Framework calls for mandatory safety testing, independent evaluation...
AtlantiCare Promotes CIO
Jordan Ruch has been promoted to executive vice president and chief information and digital officer at AtlantiCare, expanding his duties to include the health system’s data analytics function. Ruch joins AtlantiCare after a 22‑year tenure at RWJBarnabas Health, where he...
‘Much Needed Clarity and a Path to Restore Trust’: Fairview, U of Minnesota, M Physicians Close in on New 10-Year...
University of Minnesota, Fairview Health Services and M Physicians have reached a mediated 10‑year agreement set to begin Jan. 1, 2027, extending a 30‑year academic, research and clinical partnership. Fairview will invest $1 billion in UMN Medical Center facilities and provide $50 million...
Stanford’s AI Discharge Summary Tool Cuts Physician Burnout
Stanford Health Care piloted an in‑house AI agent, MedAgentBrief, that drafts hospital discharge summaries for physicians at Sequoia Hospital. Over a ten‑week trial with 11 hospitalists, the tool cut documented time per summary by about three minutes and was associated...