HITshow Daily Audio Newscast

Today on HITshow: Today's stories point to a clear trend: health systems investing heavily in automation at both front door and back office, while financial pressure continues to reshape workforce strategy. Mayo Clinic and Ubie launch AI-powered platform to improve patient triage, scheduling, and navigation, CommonSpirit deploys AI tools for financial operations to identify savings and detect revenue slippage, Memorial Hermann offers voluntary buyouts to manage costs, Cigna announces plans to reduce workforce by 2,000 employees globally, and in today's Bright Spot, a coalition launches AI Care Standard framework for patient-facing AI safety. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Mayo Clinic collaborating with digital health company Ubie to develop AI-powered platform designed to improve patient triage, scheduling, and navigation. Goal is helping patients find right level of care faster—primary care, urgent care, virtual care, or specialty services—while reducing pressure on call centers and intake staff. Digital front door has become one of most important operational battlegrounds. AI tools increasingly used to guide patients through symptoms, recommend appropriate care settings, and connect directly to scheduling systems. For large systems, improving access directly affects throughput, revenue capture, and capacity management. Access improvements often produce fastest ROI in healthcare because they increase utilization of existing capacity and reduce administrative workload simultaneously. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Teresa Vaughn CommonSpirit Health deploying AI tools to improve financial operations by identifying savings opportunities, analyzing cost patterns, and detecting areas where revenue may be slipping through cracks. Large health systems operate incredibly complex financial environments with thousands of supply contracts, reimbursement streams, and operational cost centers. AI platforms analyzing financial and operational data in near real time, allowing leaders to detect trends earlier and intervene faster. Shift reflects broader change in how hospital CFOs view technology investments—prioritizing tools that directly affect margin, productivity, and operational efficiency. Starting with larger systems due to scale and data infrastructure, but mid-size organizations watching closely. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Memorial Hermann Health System begun offering voluntary buyouts to some employees as part of strategy to manage costs and improve operational efficiency. Health systems nationwide face rising labor costs, slower reimbursement growth, and ongoing inflation. Many responding by restructuring administrative roles, consolidating departments, and investing in automation. Cigna announced plans to reduce workforce by roughly 2,000 employees globally as part of efforts to streamline operations and remain competitive. These moves reflect broader shift: organizations redesigning workflows, not just trimming budgets, looking at where automation, outsourcing, or process redesign can replace manual work. Most leaders see this as structural—operating model of healthcare organizations is changing. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier (Bright Spot) Coalition of healthcare leaders launched AI Care Standard, new framework to evaluate safety of artificial intelligence tools that communicate directly with patients. Initiative announced by Vital CEO Aaron Patzer with contributors from MedStar Health, HCA Healthcare, Stanford, Highmark, Indiana University Health, Hackensack Meridian Health, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and Texas Children's Hospital, along with patient-safety advocates and nursing leadership groups. Framework provides scoring tools and principles for health systems and vendors to evaluate whether patient-facing AI tools are safe, reliable, and appropriate for clinical environments. Goal is creating practical middle ground as governance, transparency, and measurable safety standards become essential. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show.

Today on HITshow: Hospitals are adapting to a new reality: fewer staff, more care outside the hospital, and policy changes reshaping access to care. Healthcare still carrying 700,000+ open positions nationwide with shortages especially severe in rural areas, specialty nursing, and behavioral health. Hospital-at-home programs expanding rapidly after federal waivers extended, with several large systems now treating it as core service line. Plus: CMS introduces new staffing incentives for nursing homes and long-term care facilities, price transparency enforcement tightening, federal primary-care program cancellation creates uncertainty, Alabama directs $200M in federal funding toward rural healthcare workforce, and Savvy Cooperative rebrands as Real Patients. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Healthcare still carrying more than 700,000 open positions nationwide, with shortages especially severe in rural areas, specialty nursing, and behavioral health. Some hospitals reducing services because they cannot staff them safely. Executives no longer planning for short-term shortage but long-term constraints, accelerating investment in automation, virtual nursing, and care-at-home models. Top concern: retention and burnout. Hiring improved in some markets, but turnover still offsetting gains. Workforce stability remains top operational priority. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Hospital-at-home programs expanding rapidly after federal waivers extended. Programs now include remote monitoring, infusion therapy, and some acute-level services delivered in patients' homes. Executives say this helps manage bed shortages and improves patient satisfaction. Hospitals redesigning care pathways and staffing models to support distributed care. Several large systems now treat hospital-at-home as core service line, not pilot programs. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Teresa Vaughn CMS introducing new incentives for nursing homes and long-term care facilities, including loan repayment and financial incentives to attract nurses. Hospitals watching closely because staffing shortages in skilled nursing facilities directly affect discharge timelines and patient flow. Improving post-acute capacity is one of fastest ways to relieve hospital congestion. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Xavier Banks CMS continuing to increase enforcement and education around hospital price transparency rules. For executives, message is clear: compliance expectations tightening. Hospitals advised to audit files, verify data accuracy, and ensure pricing is accessible and machine-readable. Risks include fines, reputational risk, and more complicated payer negotiations. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Teresa Vaughn Providers reacting to cancellation of long-running federal primary-care program, creating uncertainty in funding and care coordination. Instability in primary care often leads to more emergency visits, delayed diagnoses, and higher acuity admissions. Executives say strengthening primary care remains essential to controlling downstream costs. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Alabama directing roughly $200M in federal funding toward strengthening rural healthcare workforce, including training pipelines, recruitment incentives, and infrastructure support. Rural hospitals continue to face some of the most severe staffing and financial pressures in the country. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Health systems investing in technology and care redesign focused on measurable results. Examples include population-health platforms helping reduce inpatient utilization and improve care coordination. Executives say emphasis now is ROI, scalability, and outcomes, not just pilots. 📍 Industry Update --- Rhonda Brooks Savvy Cooperative has rebranded as Real Patients, reflecting mission of bringing real lived patient experience directly into healthcare decision-making. Focus on capturing authentic patient voices, over time, in their own words, rather than relying only on indirect or incomplete data. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show.

Today on HITshow: Forces shaping healthcare right now: workforce pressure that isn't letting up, new federal policy moves affecting costs and competition, and technology finally moving beyond pilots to deliver real operational results. Kaiser Permanente strike continues in California affecting tens of thousands of workers, while NYC negotiations produce tentative agreements at Mount Sinai and Montefiore. Plus: CMS proposes new rules on transparency and competition, ViVE conference preview shows shift toward ROI and operational efficiency, and technology delivering measurable results including Integrity Health's 16% reduction in inpatient costs and growth in value-based care networks. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Kaiser Permanente strike continues in California affecting operations across multiple facilities with tens of thousands of workers involved in disputes over staffing levels, wages, and working conditions, forcing administrators to rely heavily on contingency staffing. In New York, negotiations produced tentative agreements at several major hospitals including Mount Sinai and Montefiore that could bring thousands of nurses back to work, though not all facilities reached agreements. Common theme: workforce shortages and retention pressures are becoming structural realities, not temporary disruptions. The longer-term concern is sustainability—even when strikes resolved, underlying drivers like burnout, competition for staff, and rising labor costs don't disappear. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Peter Betterworth Federal regulators proposed new rules aimed at increasing transparency and competition while continuing efforts to control program costs. While still in rulemaking phase, proposals signal continued pressure on hospitals to demonstrate value and efficiency, particularly in areas tied to reimbursement and reporting. Regulatory expectations are not easing—compliance requirements, data reporting, and cost controls remain central priorities. Organizations that start preparing early tend to avoid biggest disruptions later. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes With ViVE digital health conference now two weeks away, biggest shift is change in tone. Hospital and health-system leaders increasingly focused on ROI, operational efficiency, and technologies that integrate into existing workflows rather than adding complexity. Priority list: tools that reduce workforce strain, protect revenue, and improve patient flow. Era of pilot projects without measurable outcomes is fading, executives asking tougher questions about results. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Integrity Health reported improved patient outcomes and significant reduction in inpatient costs after deploying population health platform to coordinate care and identify high-risk patients earlier. Patients managed through program saw inpatient costs averaging about 16% lower per claim, along with shorter hospital stays and lower readmission rates. Organizations like Aledade continue expanding participation among independent practices in value-based care networks. Virtual nursing programs helping extend workforce capacity by allowing experienced nurses to support bedside teams remotely. Remote patient monitoring gaining traction in chronic disease management as reimbursement pathways improve and health systems report fewer readmissions and better patient engagement. Common thread: technology adoption increasingly tied to results, moving beyond pilot projects to tools that demonstrably reduce cost, improve outcomes, or relieve workforce pressure. 📍 Closing Perspective --- Rhonda Brooks Themes becoming clear: workforce strain is part of operating environment health systems must plan for, financial discipline continues shaping decisions at every level, innovation entering new phase where tools expected to deliver measurable results, and regulation/reimbursement policy continue evolving ensuring operational strategy and compliance remain tightly linked. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show.

Today on HITshow: Across healthcare, the pressure is rising and starting to show. Payers warning about margins, hospitals facing new scrutiny, supply chains and digital health companies forced to prove the numbers work. Molina Healthcare shares drop sharply after weak guidance citing rising medical costs and Medicare Advantage pressure, MultiCare agrees to settlement over allegations related to unnecessary procedures, and federal lawmakers advance PBM reform legislation on transparency and oversight. Plus: Cardinal Health raises earnings outlook driven by specialty pharmaceuticals, new analysis shows 700+ hospitals nationwide at risk of closure, and Carbon Health enters Chapter 11 restructuring after struggling to reach profitability despite $3B+ valuation. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Molina Healthcare reported quarterly loss and projected earnings significantly below analyst expectations, citing rising medical costs, pressure in Medicare Advantage, and changes in Medicaid enrollment. Stock fell more than 25% in response, one of the sharpest reactions in payer sector in recent years. Executives pointed to utilization trends and reimbursement pressure as key drivers, reinforcing broader concerns that payer margins may tighten across government programs in 2026. Most analysts treating this as broader signal, not company-specific issue. For hospitals, could translate into tougher negotiations, slower reimbursement growth, and continued scrutiny of utilization and documentation. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn MultiCare agreed to settlement tied to allegations that some procedures were performed without sufficient medical necessity. While the organization did not admit wrongdoing, the case highlights increasing scrutiny from regulators and payers around utilization, documentation, and peer review processes. Many hospitals expanding clinical analytics and utilization review programs to identify outliers earlier and reduce risk before it becomes legal or compliance issue. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Xavier Banks Federal lawmakers advanced legislation aimed at increasing transparency and oversight of pharmacy benefit managers. Proposals focus on pricing practices, rebate structures, and reporting requirements. For hospitals and health systems, changes in PBM practices could influence specialty drug purchasing, reimbursement dynamics, and employer-driven coverage decisions. Most analysts say effects would be gradual, but even incremental changes in drug pricing transparency could shift negotiations within a year or two. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Peter Betterworth Cardinal Health reported stronger-than-expected results and raised full-year earnings guidance, driven largely by growth in specialty pharmaceuticals and strong distribution performance. Executives pointed to sustained demand for high-cost therapies and continued pressure on healthcare supply chains to manage cost and inventory efficiently. Specialty pharmaceuticals continue to grow as share of spending—where much of financial pressure and opportunity is concentrating. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn A recent report finds more than 700 hospitals nationwide considered at risk of closure, with hundreds facing immediate financial vulnerability. Many are rural or safety-net providers where labor costs, payer mix, and declining volumes have strained margins. Trend contributing to consolidation, service reductions, and growing concern about access to care in certain regions. Some systems improving margins, but for smaller hospitals, workforce costs and reimbursement remain major challenges. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Carbon Health, once valued at more than $3B and seen as leader in hybrid virtual-and-in-person care, entered Chapter 11 restructuring after struggling to reach profitability. The trajectory reflects broader shift in digital health where investors and health systems now demand clear evidence of ROI, sustainable margins, and integration with clinical workflows. For hospital executives evaluating vendors: long-term viability now matters as much as innovation. Investment shifting toward companies demonstrating measurable outcomes and operational value. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show.

Today on HITshow: Revenue-cycle consolidation meets patient privacy concerns as JPM Week continues. EnableComp acquires H/ROI to create a comprehensive platform for complex revenue, Epic and several major providers sue over alleged misuse of patient records in the TEFCA ecosystem, and JPM Week signals shift from AI demos to credible ROI. Plus: federal policy reinforcing interoperability accountability, and a Bright Spot on solving patient identity to finally get rid of the clipboard. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Finance & Capital --- Teresa Vaughn EnableComp is acquiring H/ROI (Human Resources Optimization) to create a comprehensive platform for complex revenue including denials, DRG validation, and complex claims recovery. EnableComp CEO Frank Forte says a typical VA claim that takes 90 minutes manually can be 90-95% automated and completed in minutes or seconds. The deal signals revenue-cycle tech is consolidating around platform plays as margin pressure continues. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Peter Betterworth Epic, along with OCHIN, Reid Health, Trinity Health, and UMass Memorial Health, filed a federal lawsuit alleging Health Gorilla and a network of companies improperly accessed and monetized patient medical records. The lawsuit is essentially one TEFCA participant taking another to court, alleging bad actors exploited national health information exchange pathways by requesting records under the appearance of legitimate care purposes for profit instead of treatment. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah (JPM Coverage) Federal policy is showing up directly inside JPM conversations, with senior government leaders reinforcing that the next phase isn't just talking about interoperability but proving it works at national scale with real accountability. Health systems should expect more scrutiny around how data is accessed, governed, and used. 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Jade Romero (JPM Coverage) JPM announcements are shifting from shiny tech to operational adoption. Revenue cycle is becoming an AI battleground focused on automation that takes work off teams' plates. Provider partnerships are being framed as clinical workflow plus data plus outcomes, not just new tech. Wearables are inching closer into clinical workflow when data can be incorporated in ways clinicians can actually use. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes (JPM Market Read) JPM Week compressed months of strategy talk: AI is everywhere but the bar has moved from cool demo to credible ROI, real anxiety around public funding and Medicaid dynamics is shaping growth conversations, and executives are watching payer behavior closely. For hospital leaders evaluating technology: treat every AI pitch like a budget conversation asking what cost disappears, what risk drops, and what capacity returns to the workforce. The winners are tying AI to measurable operational relief and proving it can live inside real workflows. 📍 Digital Health --- Jalen Cross (Bright Spot) Verato is solving patient identity to eliminate the clipboard moment. Clay Ritchey explains the most common experience health systems get wrong is lack of context at every touch of the care journey, forcing patients to re-explain themselves repeatedly. Only 25% of millennials or younger have a primary care physician compared to 80% of those 65+, making micro-moment experiences more important. Younger generations are 3x more likely to switch providers because they expect better consumer experiences. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. Presented by: Ovatient | Verato | Spare Tire

Today on HITshow: Continuing JPM week coverage from San Francisco where the big theme is practical: healthcare AI is getting closer to the work, the visit, the record, and the back office. Breaking: NYC nurses strike enters second day with roughly 15,000 nurses walking out across multiple private hospital systems. Plus: HCA and MEDITECH announce Expanse is now live across 43 HCA hospitals, Owkin unveils agentic infrastructure trained on multimodal patient data, Hippocratic AI acquires Grove AI for clinical trial operations, Abridge and Availity team up for real-time prior authorization, and OpenAI reportedly acquiring Torch for around $100M. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Breaking News --- Rhonda Brooks A major NYC nurses strike is now in its second day, with roughly 15,000 nurses walking out across multiple private hospital systems. Hospitals are working to maintain services with contingency staffing, and state leaders have taken emergency steps to give hospitals more flexibility to bring in temporary workers. Both sides continue to urge patients not to delay care. 📍 Health IT --- Peter Betterworth HCA and MEDITECH announced MEDITECH Expanse is now live across 43 HCA hospitals, described as the first large-scale wave of an enterprise rollout. The foundational move sets up standard workflows, cleaner data, and a clearer runway for future automation and decision support. 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Nate Collier (JPM Coverage with Interview) Owkin unveiled agentic infrastructure trained on multimodal and multi-omics patient data, connecting pathology, imaging, clinical context, and other signals at the per-patient level. Owkin's Dinesh Divakaran explains patients will soon walk into visits with their own AI-generated summaries, just like clinicians use transcription. For hospital leaders, this means governance matters: who validates summaries, where do they get stored, and how do they influence decision-making without creating risk? 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Jade Romero (JPM Coverage) Hippocratic AI acquired Grove AI as it expands into life sciences and clinical trial operations. Grove built an always-on, multilingual AI agent called Grace that supports trial participant engagement across voice, text, and email, plus a participant relationship management platform with oversight and regulatory alignment. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Teresa Vaughn (JPM Coverage) Abridge and Availity announced a collaboration aimed at real-time prior authorization tied to the clinician-patient conversation, with plans to extend across more revenue-cycle workflows. The goal is reducing lag between what's said in the visit and what the payer needs to approve care. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes (JPM Coverage) Multiple reports say OpenAI has agreed to acquire a small healthcare AI startup called Torch, with reporting suggesting a price around $100M in equity. The major AI platforms aren't just building models, they're looking for workflow footholds in regulated industries like healthcare. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by Verato, EnableComp & Spare Tire

Today on HITshow: The 44th Annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference kicks off in San Francisco, running January 12-15 at the Westin St. Francis with 8,000+ attendees. This year's agenda shows 22 not-for-profit health systems presenting on day one. Breaking news: thousands of NYC nurses on strike at multiple major hospitals. Plus: Imagine Pediatrics expands into four more states, Tampa General and Mass General Brigham launch joint ambulatory network in Florida, and major AI announcements including Anthropic's Claude for Healthcare, personal health records connecting into AI via HealthEx partnership, and Abridge plus Availity bringing real-time prior authorization. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah (Breaking) Thousands of nurses are on strike today at multiple major New York City hospitals after contract talks failed. The union says the core issue is safe staffing and that promises from the last strike haven't translated into unit-level reality. Hospitals argue they've made significant offers but union demands are too costly. The timing adds pressure during heavy flu season with hospitals hiring temporary nurses and adjusting operations. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Imagine Pediatrics is expanding into four more states (Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, and New York) and moving into the commercial health plan market. The 24/7 model combines virtual care with in-home support for children with special healthcare needs, now serving more than 70,000 kids with population doubling over the past year. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Tampa General Hospital and Mass General Brigham are launching a joint ambulatory care network on Florida's East Coast, focused on expanding primary care, specialty services, and surgical care across Martin, St. Lucie, and Palm Beach counties. The template: brand plus ambulatory access plus referral control. 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Jade Romero (JPM Coverage) Anthropic rolled out Claude for Healthcare with HIPAA-ready infrastructure for providers and payers, targeting documentation support, policy and coverage lookups, and generating drafts for review with stronger guardrails around health data handling. The executive question is shifting from "can it write?" to "can it plug into our governance and operations without creating new safety problems?" 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Jade Romero (JPM Coverage) HealthEx and Anthropic partnered to let certain Claude subscribers securely connect medical records from tens of thousands of provider organizations, then ask questions grounded in their own history. Built on TEFCA (the national interoperability framework), patients will show up with AI-generated interpretations requiring health systems to have clear stances on accuracy and clinician response. 📍 Digital Health --- Teresa Vaughn (JPM Coverage) Abridge and Availity are teaming up to scale real-time prior authorization, compressing what can be a weeks-long process into something that happens during the encounter. Ambient documentation plus payer connectivity aims to move approvals from days to minutes when possible, reducing delays, reschedules, and staff time chasing paperwork. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes (JPM Coverage) Early JPM chatter suggests dealmakers expect a stronger year for healthcare M&A, including possibility of mega deals, helped by more permissive regulatory climate and looming patent cliffs in pharma. Consolidation shifts payer behavior, vendor pricing, and partnership options. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by Spare Tire, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Healthcare's AI moment is turning into infrastructure, while policy and capital markets help decide what scales and what gets funded. OpenAI launches a healthcare-specific product set with enterprise controls for protected health information, the House passes a 3-year ACA subsidy extension, and Apella raises $80M for ambient AI focused on operating room performance. Plus: Walmart launches Better Care Services as a digital health front door, and dealmakers signal an active M&A year ahead as JPM Healthcare Conference gets underway. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn OpenAI is now packaging a healthcare-specific product set aimed at organizations needing enterprise controls, clearer governance, and handling of protected health information. The platform targets documentation support, care team coordination, patient communication drafts, and operational tasks. Before scaling beyond pilots, executives should demand clear data controls (what's logged, retained, and who can access outputs) and evaluation in real workflows with measurement beyond satisfaction. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah The U.S. House passed a bill to extend enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits for three years, affecting marketplace coverage affordability and hospital payer mix, charity care pressure, and collections. The bill faces a tougher path in the Senate, requiring scenario planning from revenue cycle and access teams for either renewals/re-enrollment surges or coverage churn. 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Nate Collier Apella raised $80M to expand a platform using ambient AI and computer vision to measure operating room timing, workflow steps, turnover patterns, and bottlenecks. The platform creates a single source of truth for OR operations beyond just scheduling, with health systems participating strategically in funding to influence where the category goes. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Walmart launched Better Care Services, a digital health front door connecting consumers to third-party care options including urgent care and behavioral health. The move nudges patients toward convenience-first decisions, creating potential leakage risk for systems with fragmented, hard-to-navigate entry points. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes As the JPM Healthcare Conference gets underway, early signals suggest 2026 could be active for healthcare M&A driven by capability gaps, margin pressure, and competitive urgency. Watch for scale and portfolio reshaping, AI and automation acquisitions (especially revenue cycle, clinical productivity, and operational analytics), and vendor consolidation that changes pricing leverage and support. Hospital executives should review critical vendor contracts for change-of-control protections and identify top five mission-critical dependencies with real contingency plans. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by Spare Tire, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Consumer AI is moving closer to health data, and the rulebook around health tech is shifting at the same time. OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Health where users can upload medical records and connect wellness apps, while regulators signal a lighter touch for certain wearables and digital health tools. Plus: Utah launches an AI prescription renewal pilot, Mayo develops an EHR-integrated AI education agent, and healthcare leaders expect more M&A activity in 2026. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Health, a dedicated health and wellness experience where users can upload medical records, connect wellness apps, interpret test results, prep for doctor visits, and track diet and fitness. For health systems, this means patients will arrive with AI-generated summaries and conclusions, requiring consistent clinical and operational approaches on validation and response. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah Regulators issued updated guidance pulling back oversight for certain wearables and digital health software, especially products positioned as general wellness tools. If devices stay out of diagnosis and treatment claims, they may avoid the same level of FDA review, with clarifications on clinical decision support software as well. 📍 Commentary --- Rhonda Brooks When consumer AI makes it easier for people to pull in records and app data, hospitals become the reality check on the back end. For hospital leaders, this creates a near-term operating issue: What patient-generated data do you trust? What do you treat as context? And what do you refuse to operationalize? 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Utah launched a pilot program allowing an AI chatbot built by Doctronic to renew prescriptions for roughly 200 commonly used medications (renewals only, excluding controlled substances). The pilot puts a flag in the ground that states may create carve-outs for AI in routine care-adjacent workflows, creating pressure on health systems to modernize renewal workflows and triage. 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Jade Romero Mayo researchers developed and evaluated MedEduChat, an EHR-integrated AI agent for personalized prostate cancer education. In a small study, patients reported stronger confidence and high usability, pointing to AI tools that support care delivery without adding to clinician workload. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes A new outlook survey suggests a majority of healthcare leaders expect more merger activity in 2026, with life sciences leaders even more bullish. The signal is more strategic combinations, partnership activity, and portfolio moves tied to scale, access, and technology modernization. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by Spare Tire, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: We're celebrating our 100th episode! A huge thank you to Executive Producer Dennis Dailey, our incredible team of reporters, and all of you for trusting us with your time every day. Today's news: HHS withholds more than $10B in child care and family assistance funding from five states, RWJBarnabas Health to acquire Englewood Health, and Covenant Health's breach impact rises to 478,000 patients. Plus: telehealth prescribing flexibilities extended through 2026, FDA clarifies wellness wearables guidance, and a Bright Spot featuring PharmStars bridging the gap between pharma and digital health startups. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn The Department of Health and Human Services is withholding more than $10B in child care and family assistance funding from five states, citing fraud and documentation concerns. When families lose reliable support services, health systems often see knock-on effects including missed appointments, delayed care, and added strain on community partners. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes RWJBarnabas Health has signed an agreement to acquire Englewood Health in New Jersey, including its hospital and broad outpatient footprint, pending state and federal approvals. The deal aims to strengthen referral patterns, service lines, and negotiating leverage in the competitive northern New Jersey metro market. 📍 Cybersecurity --- Anika Shah Covenant Health revised its breach notification with the impacted patient count now at roughly 478,000, a dramatic jump from earlier figures. The ransomware incident creates operational drag through patient notifications, call center support, legal workflows, and reputational impact while teams conduct forensic work and tighten controls. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Federal officials extended certain telehealth prescribing flexibilities for controlled substances through the end of 2026, preventing an abrupt return to pre-pandemic rules. The extension provides continuity for stable patients receiving care via telehealth, especially in behavioral health, while permanent rules are finalized. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Peter Betterworth The FDA is reinforcing that low-risk wellness tools like fitness tracking and general lifestyle guidance typically won't be treated like regulated medical devices, as long as they don't claim to diagnose, treat, or prevent disease. The guidance sharpens the line between "wellness" and "medical decision support." 📍 Digital Health --- Jalen Cross (Bright Spot) PharmStars, led by Naomi Fried, connects digital health startups with pharma companies to bridge the "pharma startup gap" where fundamentally different operating speeds, cultures, and risk appetites create friction. The accelerator has supported 102 startups that have collectively raised over $1B in funding, and is now building venture funding to support graduates. Current focus includes agentic AI tools for clinical trial modeling, patient identification, and faster trial execution. Applications open through January 25 at pharmstars.com. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by Spare Tire, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: AI is moving from innovation into real operational friction, and governance is catching up. Medicare launches a new AI-driven model to review outpatient procedures, Oracle's breach fallout widens to include AdventHealth, and OpenAI says 40 million people are using ChatGPT daily for healthcare questions. Plus: Corewell and Quest form a major lab joint venture, New York nurses issue strike notices covering 15 hospitals, and a Bright Spot on Epic and Penn Medicine's smarter clinic collaboration. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Peter Betterworth Medicare is officially testing the WISeR Model, using AI and machine learning paired with human clinical review to assess certain outpatient procedures. The model runs January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2031, launching across six states: Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington. Hospitals should expect new workflow realities including documentation requirements, turnaround times, and algorithmic triage at the front door. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Oracle's breach fallout is widening, with new reporting indicating AdventHealth has been ensnared and multiple health systems affected. The incident highlights third-party vendor risk, with leaders needing to quickly confirm integrations, validate access logs, and review patient-notification playbooks. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier OpenAI says more than 40 million people are using ChatGPT daily for healthcare-related questions, with about 1 in 4 weekly users prompting about healthcare. Clinicians are increasingly spending visit time validating, correcting, or reframing what patients read from AI, creating both risk (misinformation driving unnecessary utilization) and opportunity (building trusted digital front doors and better triage). 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Corewell Health and Quest Diagnostics are forming a lab joint venture called Diagnostic Lab of Michigan, with Quest holding 51% and Corewell 49%. Quest will manage lab operations across all 21 Corewell hospitals, with plans for a 100,000 square-foot centralized laboratory targeted for Q1 2027. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Jade Romero About 21,000 New York nurses have issued ten-day strike notices covering 15 hospitals, with a potential strike date of January 12. Even if a strike is avoided, preparation is disruptive with staffing contingency plans, potential delays to elective procedures, and pressure to keep critical units stable. Epic and Penn Medicine are working on a smarter clinic collaboration aimed at practical improvements: fewer friction points for patients, smoother scheduling and communication, better coordination across care teams, and less administrative drag for clinicians. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

That's a wrap on 2025! This is our last show of the year. From everyone at HITshow — Rhonda, Anika, Teresa, Logan, Jade, Nate, Jalen, Peter, and the whole team — happy holidays and happy New Year! Thank you for an incredible first year of listening, sharing, and building this community with us. We're taking a brief holiday break and will be back in full weekday production on Tuesday, January 6, 2026. While we're away, swing by hit.show to catch up on our industry video interviews and features. Take care of your people, get some rest, and we'll see you in the new year with all the latest healthcare business news! 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Three big forces collide: AI is moving from pilot to production in revenue cycle operations, New York puts more than $300M into hospital health IT and cybersecurity, and payers are tightening reimbursement rules. Plus: Northwell Direct lands a major contract covering 170,000 participants, UnitedHealthcare narrows RPM coverage starting January 1, and a Bright Spot on how Tendo is making bundled care shoppable. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Finance & Capital --- Teresa Vaughn A new survey shows 8 in 10 health systems are now exploring, piloting, or implementing generative AI tools for revenue cycle management, with leaders targeting faster throughput, fewer denials, less manual work, and relief on staffing pressure. The fastest CFO wins are in denials and under-coding—anything that turns into dollars quickly with a clean audit trail. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah New York is awarding more than $300M to 22 hospital projects through the state's facility transformation programs, focusing on expanding electronic medical records, strengthening cybersecurity and patient data security, and expanding telehealth services. Cyber readiness and IT modernization are being treated like essential infrastructure alongside bricks and mortar. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Northwell Direct and the 32BJ Health Fund announced a direct healthcare agreement covering about 170,000 participants, cutting out a layer of third-party administration. The fund estimates meaningful first-year savings, signaling that large purchasers want more predictable pricing and control over where care is delivered. 📍 Digital Health --- Jalen Cross UnitedHealthcare has a new RPM medical policy effective January 1, 2026, making coverage more restrictive. For health systems and provider groups running RPM at scale, this is a "check your cohorts" moment to map current patients against new criteria and build transition plans for anyone who no longer qualifies. 📍 Quick Roundup --- Nate Collier Humana is lining up a leadership transition in its insurance business, bringing in a former Amazon healthcare executive. Banner Health is transitioning facilities to a cashless payment model with completion targeted by March 2026. Bayhealth has a proposed $2.5M settlement fund tied to a patient data breach pending court approval. Evernorth's Behavioral Care Group is highlighting expansion and access improvements with more growth planned into 2026. 📍 Digital Health --- Jade Romero (Bright Spot) Tendo is combining performance insight for providers with a marketplace that lets employers and care navigators shop bundled episodes with upfront pricing and quality signals. Co-CEO Kevin Riley says the platform saves consumers an average of $740 per service with a 92% five-star rating, signaling employers want predictable prices and providers want channels that reward quality. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Pressure is coming from multiple directions. The VA moves to eliminate tens of thousands of unfilled positions while reorganizing management, enhanced ACA premium subsidies set to expire in two weeks with no extension in sight, and Humana faces renewed Medicare Advantage scrutiny. Plus: a new analysis suggests some hospitals may have been overpaid through Change Healthcare relief, and a Bright Spot on virtual cancer care at Tampa General that hints at where hybrid oncology is heading. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn The VA is moving to eliminate tens of thousands of unfilled positions and pair that with a management reorganization aimed at reducing bureaucracy and pushing more authority to local leaders. The ripple effect hits the same labor markets where the VA operates, potentially shifting competition, wage pressure, and retention dynamics in nearby communities. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Peter Betterworth A new House Republican healthcare plan does not include an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium subsidies currently set to expire on December 31. If the cliff hits, many consumers could see meaningful premium increases starting January 1, potentially leading to more coverage churn, self-pay exposure, and strain on front-end financial counseling. 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah Humana is facing renewed scrutiny after an investigation raised questions about how the company used internal research and selective framing in arguments supporting Medicare Advantage benefits. The scrutiny lands in a broader climate where MA is being examined more aggressively around utilization management, denials, coding, and value claims. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes A new analysis suggests some hospitals may have been overpaid through CMS accelerated and advance payments meant to stabilize cash flow during the Change Healthcare disruption. If policymakers decide relief mechanisms overshot in certain cases, that could lead to conversations in 2026 about recoupment, audit attention, or rethinking disruption relief structure. 📍 Digital Health --- Jalen Cross (Bright Spot) Tampa General Hospital Cancer Institute is partnering with Reimagine Care on a virtual cancer care model designed to support patients between visits, reduce avoidable hospitalizations, and strengthen day-to-day navigation through treatment. The model extends hospital-based specialty care into the home with virtual touchpoints, symptom monitoring, and faster escalation paths. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Stability is getting expensive across healthcare. The VA plans to eliminate up to 35,000 healthcare positions, 57 health systems push back on proposed cybersecurity rules, and Cencora takes majority control of OneOncology in a $7.4B deal. Plus: Connecticut approves a hospital acquisition with strict access guardrails, and Philips moves to acquire SpectraWAVE for AI-enabled coronary imaging. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah The Veterans Affairs system is planning to cut up to 35,000 healthcare positions, largely roles currently unfilled. The concern for hospital leaders isn't just federal belt-tightening but second-order effects: if VA capacity tightens or hiring slows in certain markets, pressure could shift into community care through ED volume, outpatient access, and specialty bottlenecks. .📍 Cybersecurity --- Peter Betterworth A group of 57 health systems is urging HHS to rescind a proposed cybersecurity rule, arguing the requirements and timelines could be financially and operationally unrealistic. If the rule moves forward as written, it could force faster spending decisions on controls, audits, documentation, and staffing, landing on clinical uptime, third-party risk, and enterprise governance. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Cencora is taking majority control of OneOncology in a deal valuing the business at about $7.4B. The practical message for health system leaders is that the community oncology ecosystem keeps getting more organized and better-capitalized, affecting referral dynamics, site-of-care strategy, infusion economics, and partnerships. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Connecticut regulators approved Hartford HealthCare's acquisition of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General with specific conditions, including keeping the Rockville emergency department open 24/7 for at least three years and maintaining inpatient behavioral health services within a set radius. States are increasingly writing access guarantees and service-line protections into M&A approvals. 📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Philips agreed to acquire SpectraWAVE, adding technology focused on coronary intravascular imaging and physiological assessment with an emphasis on AI. Vendors are stacking capabilities to own more of the interventional workflow, including imaging, interpretation support, and decision guidance. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Leadership and capital are on the move across healthcare. AHA President Rick Pollack announces retirement after 43 years, Boston Children's lands a record $100M gift for pediatric behavioral health, and New York greenlights $1.1B to modernize SUNY Downstate. Plus: Community Health Systems locks in permanent leadership, Artera raises $65M to scale patient communication AI, and a new tool turns smartphones into sleep trackers. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Healthcare Policy & Advocacy --- Anika Shah The American Hospital Association announced that President and CEO Rick Pollack will retire at the end of 2026 after 43 years with the organization and nearly a decade in the top job. The board has launched a national search, and Pollack will serve as president and CEO emeritus during the transition. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Boston Children's Hospital received a record $100M gift from philanthropists Rob and Karen Hale to help anchor a roughly $650M pediatric behavioral health hospital on the Franciscan Children's campus in Brighton. The funding will expand inpatient and outpatient services, build out research and training, and support a 23-hospital collaborative focused on pediatric mental health. 📍 Strategy & Transformation --- Teresa Vaughn Governor Kathy Hochul's office confirmed the design phase is kicking off for a $1.1B plan to modernize SUNY Downstate's hospital and build a new annex facility in Brooklyn. Funding will be drawn from two consecutive state budgets, aiming to stabilize and reposition Downstate as a modern anchor for central Brooklyn after past attempts to downsize faced community pushback. 📍 Finance & Capital --- Logan Stokes Community Health Systems confirmed Kevin Hammons as permanent CEO and Jason Johnson as permanent CFO after both served in interim roles since October. Hammons has been closely associated with Project Empower, an ERP modernization CHS expects will generate up to $60M in savings in 2025, while the company continues divesting underperforming hospitals. 📍 AI & Machine Learning --- Jade Romero Artera raised $65M to build out autonomous AI agents for patient communication that handle scheduling, rescheduling, intake, and billing questions. The company says 94% of patient conversations are now completed without staff intervention, translating into roughly 250,000 hours of staff time saved annually for clients. .📍 Digital Health --- Nate Collier Sleep Sense uses on-device AI to analyze motion, light, and phone usage patterns overnight, turning smartphones into sleep trackers without wearables. The pitch is nearly 100% population coverage without extra hardware, subscriptions, or data leaving the device unnecessarily. 📍 AI & IT Round-Up --- Rhonda Brooks Sword Health launched MindEval, a multi-turn benchmark testing large language models through realistic mental health conversations, with early scores showing even top models struggling with severe cases. A new State of Enterprise AI report shows healthcare among the fastest-moving sectors for putting AI into daily workflows. And KLAS released its 2025 report on IT planning and assessment services, which we'll unpack in detail on tomorrow's show. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: The financial squeeze is easing a bit, but the pressure to restructure is not—and the "front door" of healthcare is getting more AI-powered by the day. Nonprofit hospital margins are expected to see modest gains into 2026, but systems are tightening now ahead of Medicaid uncertainty. A major payer-provider combo emerges in Hawaii. CVS raises guidance and lays out a new AI platform strategy. Measurable gains from AI scribes in the emergency department. Medline sets terms for what could be the biggest U.S. IPO of 2025. Plus a Bright Spot on a milestone in the physician pipeline. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Nonprofit Margins & Medicaid Tightening — Teresa Vaughn Nonprofit hospitals expected to see modest margin improvement through 2026, but the message is clear: don't confuse "better" with "back to normal." Systems are tightening now because of policy risk on the horizon, especially around Medicaid. The window to lock in resilience won't stay open long. 📍 Hawaii Payer-Provider Merger Talks — Logan Stokes Hawaii Pacific Health and Hawaii Medical Service Association (the state's largest payer) are exploring a possible merger or affiliation. The stated goals are affordability and access, but the real question: what changes when the biggest payer and a major provider start rowing in the same direction? Regulators and employers are watching. 📍 CVS Raises Outlook & AI Strategy — Nate Collier CVS raised 2025 guidance and is pushing a new AI-powered platform designed to unify consumer experience across pharmacy, benefits, and care delivery. The real implication: the consumer front door is becoming more automated. Payers will guide members in real time—shaping volume, routing, and patient expectations. 📍 AI Scribes Show ED Throughput Gains — Jade Romero Cabrini Health in Melbourne, Australia piloted an AI scribe with Heidi Health in the emergency department—and care wrapped up about 24 minutes earlier on average. The takeaway: AI scribes are moving from "promising" to "measurable," but only if you build governance and accountability to scale responsibly. .📍 Medline Sets IPO Terms — Peter Betterworth Medline is targeting a valuation of up to $55.3 billion in what could be the biggest U.S. IPO of 2025. Supply chain is strategy—contracts, standardization, inventory discipline are no longer "back office" topics. Expect the entire segment to sharpen. Bright Spot: U.S. medical school enrollment tops 100,000 students for the first time in the 2025–2026 academic year. Applications are also up about 5%, reversing a three-year decline. The pipeline is strengthening—essential for long-term care delivery stability. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Resilience is not optional—whether that’s patching vulnerabilities, staying operational through EHR downtime, or building the data foundation for AI at scale. CISA flags the “React2Shell” threat tied to React Server Components. Spare Tire raises three million dollars to expand EHR continuity, with perspective from co-founder Allen Alashi. HHS moves forward on an interagency AI data platform with C3. UC Irvine Health opens the nation’s first all-electric acute-care hospital in Irvine, California. And Sharecare partners with CLEAR on trusted digital identity for AskMD. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 CISA Flags “React2Shell” Risk — Anika Shah CISA has flagged a critical vulnerability tied to React Server Components, with real-world exploitation concerns. For health systems, this isn’t abstract—React-based apps sit everywhere from patient access to internal tools. The playbook: confirm exposure, patch and redeploy, and tighten monitoring for suspicious activity. 📍 Spare Tire Raises 3 Million Dollars for EHR Continuity — Nate Collier Spare Tire raised three million dollars to expand EHR continuity during cyberattacks, weather events, and planned maintenance—plus a sound bite from co-founder Allen Alashi. The executive lens: time-to-continuity is only half the battle; clean reconciliation after downtime is where hidden cost and revenue-cycle drag show up. 📍 HHS + C3 Interagency AI Data Platform — Jade Romero HHS is moving forward with an interagency AI data platform with C3 positioned as the technology partner. This is where expectations form—data governance, measurement standards, and AI-driven oversight often start here and later ripple into reporting, audits, and policy direction. 📍 Nation’s First All-Electric Acute-Care Hospital Opens — Logan Stokes UC Irvine Health is opening the nation’s first all-electric acute-care hospital in Irvine, California—built to expand capacity for Orange County’s growth while showcasing a lower-emissions infrastructure model. For operators, electrification changes long-term planning: energy strategy, maintenance models, resilience assumptions, and total cost of ownership. 📍 Digital Identity Moves to the Center of the Front Door — Peter Betterworth Sharecare partnered with CLEAR to enable trusted digital identity for the AskMD experience, with rollout described for 2026. Watch the tradeoff: reducing fraud and account takeover while keeping patient experience friction low—and deciding who “owns” identity in the consumer-to-care journey. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Ovatient, and Kimmchi.

Today on HITshow: Big decisions in the background—deals that don't close, policies that reshape the market, and operational "leaks" that quietly drain health systems. Aya Healthcare walks away from its planned $615 million acquisition of Cross Country Healthcare. Hologic heads toward privatization with Blackstone and TPG acquiring the company for up to $79 per share. Federal health agencies roll out a unified AI strategy coordinating efforts across CDC, CMS, and FDA. The FDA introduces TEMPO, a new pilot pathway for digital health technologies. New research shows acute care at home can improve outcomes for rural patients. Plus a practical look at how health systems stop losing money on referral leakage. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Healthcare Staffing Deal Falls Apart — Teresa Vaughn Aya Healthcare is walking away from its planned $615 million acquisition of Cross Country Healthcare. Regulatory scrutiny made the path too uncertain. For health systems relying on external labor partners, the vendor landscape can shift fast—expect contract leverage conversations and margin protection pushes. 📍 Hologic Heads to Private Equity — Logan Stokes Blackstone and TPG are acquiring Hologic for up to $79 per share in a roughly $18.3 billion deal. When PE commits at this scale, expect shifts in commercial strategy, contracting posture, and product investment priorities in women's health diagnostics. 📍 Federal AI Strategy Alignment — Anika Shah Federal health agencies are moving toward a unified AI approach, coordinating efforts across CDC, CMS, and FDA. Less "every agency does its own thing," more shared principles for trust and oversight. Expect more attention to auditability, governance, and cybersecurity fundamentals. 📍 FDA's TEMPO Pilot — Nate Collier The FDA is introducing TEMPO to complement CMS's ACCESS model—a structured pathway for certain digital health technologies to be used under a defined framework while evidence is gathered. The due diligence burden moves closer to the health system. 📍 Rural Hospital-at-Home Outcomes — Jalen Cross New research suggests acute care at home can improve outcomes for rural patients. The make-or-break factor: reliable escalation. Rural hospital-at-home works when the "what if the patient turns" plan is crystal clear and resourced. 📍 Stopping Referral Leakage — Peter Betterworth Health systems continue to lose money and continuity when referrals slip out of network. The fix: tighten pathways, standardize workflows, reduce manual handoffs, and track outcomes. One metric to demand weekly: closed-loop rate on outbound referrals. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Today's theme is pretty simple: money is moving, and resilience is mandatory. From value-based care financing to the long tail of claims disruption to cyber readiness heading into the weekend. Aledade secures a $500 million credit facility, signaling continued capital confidence in primary-care-led VBC. The Oracle Health legacy Cerner breach ripples expand, potentially reaching roughly 80 impacted organizations. A new analysis of the Change Healthcare disruption reveals uneven financial relief and teaches us about building resilience. Cyber activity continues to emphasize credential theft and rapid encryption tactics. Plus a Bright Spot on what health systems should focus on heading into 2026. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Value-Based Care Financing — Teresa Vaughn Aledade secured a $500 million credit facility. The signal: capital still believes in primary-care-led VBC, especially for organizations helping practices succeed in risk arrangements. For health systems, the question is partner versus build—and well-funded VBC enablers move faster on practice recruitment, workflow support, and contracting strategy. 📍 Oracle Health Breach Ripples — Anika Shah The Oracle Health legacy Cerner breach ripple effects could reach roughly 80 impacted organizations. Vendor incidents become your incident fast—patient notifications, identity monitoring, call center strain, compliance burden. Pressure-test your vendor access model, data-sharing pathways, and incident escalation terms now. 📍 Change Healthcare Disruption Lessons — Logan Stokes A new analysis of the federal relief approach after Change Healthcare found financial relief didn't land evenly. For CFOs: clearinghouse concentration risk, claims routing redundancy, and cash contingency planning need to be operational disciplines, not afterthoughts. 📍 Cyber Readiness Weekend Brief — Jalen Cross Healthcare cyber activity continues to emphasize credential theft, lateral movement, and rapid encryption. The operational question: how fast can we contain and restore? Ask for a one-page weekend readiness brief—who's on point, what systems are critical, what the first 60 minutes looks like. Bright Spot: As planning season ramps up, 2026 is shaping up as a year where health systems stop treating innovation like a side project and start treating it like an operating model. Three sticky predictions: AI stops being a tool you buy and becomes a process you run. The front door matters more than the lobby. The winners won't do more projects—they'll do fewer, better projects that actually change throughput, experience, and margins. Nate Collier reports. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Today's theme is trust: trusting what we see, what we hear, what we sign, and increasingly, what the machines are generating. We've got a new warning about AI-powered scams aimed at hospitals, a watchdog report on ACA subsidy fraud risk, a lab divestiture that signals where systems are drawing boundaries, a major privacy settlement that's a wake-up call for digital governance, a rapid AI rollout inside a hospital, and a note on where federal AI expectations are heading. Plus a Bright Spot on AI's creative era in cancer care. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 AI-Powered Scams — Anika Shah The American Hospital Association is warning healthcare organizations about scams using AI-generated voices, video, and deepfakes to impersonate executives and vendors. Build verification into workflows—call-back rules, second-channel confirmation, approval limits that can't be overridden by urgency. 📍 ACA Subsidy Fraud Risk — Xavier Banks The Government Accountability Office is raising concerns about enhanced ACA subsidies creating fraud risk. For health systems, the downstream issue is coverage instability: when policy shifts, patients churn, confusion rises, and you feel it in access and uncompensated care pressure. 📍 Community Health Systems Lab Divestiture — Logan Stokes Community Health Systems is selling select ambulatory outreach lab assets to Labcorp for $194 million. Systems are deciding what they truly want to own versus what they'd rather partner on for scale and margin predictability. 📍 Kaiser Privacy Settlement — Jade Romero Kaiser Permanente agreed to a $46 million+ class-action settlement tied to online tracking and data sharing. Marketing tech can become a clinical brand risk fast. Health systems need clear governance over trackers and data flows across digital properties. 📍 Tampa General AI Voice Agents — Nate Collier Tampa General Hospital rolled out AI voice agents with Hyro in about three months for patient access workflows. The success metric isn't deployment—it's whether wait times fall, abandonment drops, and escalation is clean. 📍 HHS AI Strategy — Peter Betterworth HHS is rolling out an AI strategy signaling expectations on governance and responsible use. The practical takeaway: move fast, but be able to document oversight, monitor performance, and justify how AI is used in real workflows. Bright Spot: AI's Creative Era in cancer care. Platforms like 4D Path are extracting actionable insight from routine pathology images—predicting tumor behavior, estimating treatment response. The trend: routine pathology becomes a predictive sensor, not just a diagnostic snapshot. Jalen Cross reports. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Systems are trying to create more capacity and less friction, but the risks and the dollars are right there in the room with them. New reporting reveals persistent patient-safety concerns with the VA's EHR modernization despite billions spent. The U.S. House passes legislation extending Medicare waivers supporting acute hospital-at-home care for five more years. Humana and Epic roll out automated digital insurance verification starting with Medicare Advantage. LCMC Health moves to systemwide ambient AI implementation with Nabla following a successful pilot. Plus rapid-fire updates on hospital deal drama, payer contract negotiations going sideways, autonomous coding claims, and major bankruptcy threads. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 VA EHR Modernization Safety Concerns — Anika Shah New reporting reveals persistent patient-safety and workflow issues tied to the VA's EHR modernization despite billions spent. VA leaders say the system is improving and preparing for 2026 expansion, but clinicians report major problems still showing up in day-to-day care. A reminder: big EHR transitions are clinical operations and safety at scale, not just IT projects. 📍 Hospital-at-Home Extension — Teresa Vaughn The U.S. House passed legislation extending Medicare waivers supporting acute hospital-at-home care for five more years. If it becomes law, it keeps the program's legal runway in place through around 2030, giving health systems confidence to invest in home-based workflows and virtual nursing models. 📍 Automated Coverage Verification — Peter Betterworth Humana and Epic rolled out automated digital insurance verification and streamlined check-in, supporting 800K+ Humana Medicare Advantage members across ~120 health systems. Fewer manual steps, cleaner billing inputs, better patient experience—small friction fixes that add up. 📍 Ambient AI Systemwide Implementation — Nate Collier LCMC Health is moving systemwide with ambient AI using Nabla after a successful pilot. The next phase: less "does it work," more "how do we govern, scale, and measure real impact?" Durable, safe workflow change is the hard part. 📍 SSM Health vs. UnitedHealthcare — Teresa Vaughn SSM Health negotiating with UnitedHealthcare—if no deal by December 31, some patients lose in-network access January 1, 2026. Prepare your comms plan now. 📍 UConn Health / Aetna Out-of-Network — Teresa Vaughn UConn Health now out-of-network for many Aetna members after missed deadline; ~15,000 patients affected. Expect confusion, rescheduling, and surge in "what does this mean for me" calls. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: It's a show about margins and maneuvering—hospital operators flexing, policy fights that hit the safety net, and big payers tightening the map. We'll check the pulse on interoperability because "data sharing" still isn't the same as "data you can actually use." HCA Healthcare's stock hits an all-time high. Hospitals sue to block a 340B rebate pilot that could hit cash flow. CMS finalizes the 2026 home health rule with payment decreases. UnitedHealth fully exits Latin America with the Banmedica sale. And a distressed-hospital settlement shows what stabilization really costs. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 HCA Stock Hits All-Time High — Logan Stokes Wall Street is grading hospital operations in real time. The signal: big, efficient operators can keep delivering despite labor pressure and a messy payer environment. For CFOs, it's a mirror—double down on capacity management, length-of-stay discipline, and clean charge capture. .📍 Hospitals Sue Over 340B Rebate Pilot — Anika Shah Hospitals and hospital groups are suing to block the federal 340B rebate pilot before it takes effect January 1, 2026. The core issue: rebate-style setup could create cash-flow risk and administrative churn compared to upfront discounts. 📍 CMS Home Health Payment Rule — Teresa Vaughn CMS finalized the 2026 home health rule with an estimated 1.3% aggregate payment decrease. For hospitals, the pressure point is discharge flow—if home health capacity tightens, length of stay and ED bottlenecks become real problems. 📍 UnitedHealth Exits Latin America — Jade Romero UnitedHealth agreed to sell Banmedica to private equity firm Patria for roughly $1 billion, completing its retreat from South America. Watch for sharper priorities and tighter contracting posture as the company refocuses. 📍 Interoperability Still Misses the Mark — Peter Betterworth Even as data sharing expands and networks grow, clinicians report poor usability of EHR data. The gap: connectivity without usability doesn't count if it doesn't show up at the point of care. 📍 Waterbury Hospital Tax Settlement — Jalen Cross A judge approved an $8.8 million tax settlement tied to Prospect Medical Holdings—a reminder that turnaround is expensive, and modernization costs follow distressed-asset deals long after the handshake. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: A major push to stabilize hospital-at-home for the long haul. New outpatient payment moves that could hit margins and shift site of care. A payer policy change going live today that could create real friction for labs and revenue cycle teams. A Medicare Advantage Star Ratings proposal that could shift billions to plans and change contracting dynamics. And a reminder that vendor risk is not an abstract concept—it's enterprise risk. Plus what health systems should demand before AI copilots touch patient workflows. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital-at-Home Extension — Anika Shah Fresh momentum in Washington for a longer extension of hospital-at-home programs. For health systems, this is about planning certainty: the difference between a "nice pilot" and true operational redesign. 📍 CMS Outpatient Payment Changes — Teresa Vaughn CMS finalized major 2026 changes including site-neutral shifts and continuing the phase-out of the inpatient-only list. Translation: don't just read the rule. Run the scenarios on what this means for your margins and operations. 📍 UnitedHealthcare Lab Enforcement — Teresa Vaughn A major payer's automated lab-testing enforcement goes live today. Health systems should brace for a spike in denials and documentation requests, especially in outpatient workflows. This isn't just a billing thing—it hits the whole building. 📍 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings — Logan Stokes A proposal on the table could shift roughly $13 billion more to plans through bonus payments. For providers, that changes negotiating power and contracting posture heading into 2026 talks. 📍 Vendor Risk & Cybersecurity — Peter Betterworth Continued fallout from an Oracle Health incident is a reminder: third-party risk isn't theoretical. Boards should treat vendor risk as enterprise risk, not a check-the-box IT issue. 📍 AI Governance in Patient Workflows — Nate Collier & Jade Romero Health systems are racing toward AI copilots, but the real question isn't whether it demos well—it's what happens when it's wrong. Safety rails, escalation paths, audit logs, and measurable outcomes are the product now. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Today we're looking at how regulators, risk, and AI are shaping the year ahead for hospitals and health plans. CMS gives hospitals a bit of breathing room in the new outpatient rule with a slower recoupment path on prior 340B clawbacks. UnityPoint Health teams up with Mayo Clinic on a big data and AI play. A Wisconsin health system puts AI to work in the revenue cycle. Abbott makes a $21 billion bet on at-home cancer screening with the Exact Sciences acquisition. We zoom out on the Medicare Advantage coding wars, and Optum Rx says prior auth can shrink from hours to seconds. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 CMS Outpatient Rule — Logan Stokes CMS finalized the 2026 outpatient and ASC rule, avoiding worst-case scenarios on 340B clawbacks—at least for now. The agency sticks with a slower recoupment path and punts any bigger adjustment to 2027. Drug acquisition cost surveys will keep pressure on hospital pharmacy margins, but 2026 feels like a small sigh of relief before the bigger fight comes due later. .📍 UnityPoint Joins Mayo Platform — Jade Romero UnityPoint Health becomes the first health system partner on Mayo Clinic's Platform_Insights, a shared data and analytics environment. The move signals that multi-system data collaboratives will be a bigger part of the landscape going into 2026, raising stakes for everyone still treating data strategy as an IT side project. .📍 AI in Revenue Cycle — Teresa Vaughn Sauk Prairie Healthcare in Wisconsin is using AI with Jorie AI to automate repetitive billing and coding work—flagging claims likely to be denied, pre-populating appeals, and surfacing payer patterns. A glimpse of where practical AI is actually taking hold: reducing the cost of getting paid, not replacing frontline staff. 📍 Abbott Buys Exact Sciences — Anika Shah Abbott is acquiring Exact Sciences (maker of Cologuard) in a $21 billion deal, betting big on at-home cancer screening. Health systems need a strategy for how at-home tests fit with their GI, oncology service lines, and population health targets as the front door to early detection moves from endoscopy centers to kitchen tables. 📍 Medicare Advantage Coding Wars — Peter Betterworth CMS's RADV audit rule was vacated in court, KFF analyses show heavy reliance on chart reviews that increase risk scores, and the American Academy of Family Physicians is pushing back on algorithm-driven downcoding. For hospitals in MA risk deals, plans are under revenue pressure and regulators are pushing back on coding and payment—leaving contracts caught in the middle. 📍 Prior Auth Gets Faster — Logan Stokes Optum Rx has deployed automated prior authorization workflows reducing average turnaround from 8.5 hours to roughly 30 seconds for low-risk requests. Systems like Cleveland Clinic are seeing many routine requests go straight through without manual review, setting a clear benchmark for the rest of the industry. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: We're talking about the rails and reality of health data. Oracle Health is stepping into TEFCA as a designated QHIN, giving customers a single-connection strategy for national exchange. eHealth Exchange's Nashville meeting put AI and interoperability on center stage, with CMS signaling that TEFCA is becoming the default highway for federal programs. A turbulent flu season is taking shape with new H3N2 variants and declining vaccination rates. We're tracking big money flowing into AI "operating spines"—Arbiter's $52M for care orchestration and WellBeam's $10M for acute-to-post-acute handoffs. And our Bright Spot features Health Gorilla's Patrick Lane on why solving fraud, waste, and abuse requires building better systems, not just auditing harder. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Oracle Joins TEFCA — Peter Betterworth Oracle Health Information Network is now a designated TEFCA QHIN, offering customers a single-connection model to reach other networks. The move raises a strategic question: if your EHR vendor is also your QHIN, how much control are you comfortable handing over on data policy, routing, and long-term fees? 📍 eHealth Exchange Nashville Summit — Anika Shah The 2025 annual meeting spotlighted AI, TEFCA, and CMS' broader Health Technology Ecosystem push. CMS Deputy Administrator Kim Brandt keynoted, framing interoperability as a pillar of federal payment and oversight. Live demos showed AI automating payer workflows, prior auth, and care coordination across multiple organizations. 📍 Turbulent Flu Season Ahead — Xavier Banks A new H3N2 flu subvariant, declining vaccination rates, and overlapping measles/RSV activity are creating a perfect storm. Hospitals should lock in staffing, push combined flu/RSV vaccination campaigns, and make sure hospital-at-home and tele-triage are ready as pressure-release valves. 📍 Arbiter's $52M Care Orchestration Platform — Logan Stokes Arbiter emerged from stealth with $52M in funding at a $400M valuation, backed by family offices and private equity. The AI platform aims to orchestrate care across payers and providers, automating referrals, scheduling, and site-of-care optimization while predicting utilization and risk. .📍 WellBeam's $10M for Acute-to-Post-Acute — Nate Collier WellBeam closed a $10M Series A led by Wittington Ventures with participation from F-Prime and Advocate Health. The EMR-integrated platform connects hospitals, physician groups, and post-acute providers, claiming big reductions in unplanned episodes and manual work. Bright Spot: Health Gorilla's Patrick Lane discusses a shift from backward-looking fraud, waste and abuse frameworks to LED—Legitimacy, Efficiency, Development. The model uses digital ID and consent management to solve fraud while seizing the upside through AI, efficient workflows, and collaborative development. Teresa Vaughn reports.

Today on HITshow: Hospitals are feeling the squeeze from payer audits, state cost-growth oversight, and big expansion moves, even as they lean on AI and data to deliver better experiences. We're tracking how rising audits and denials are quietly eating into margins, WVU Medicine's push into western Pennsylvania with the Independence acquisition, and Oregon's very public call-out of hospital cost growth. After the break, an AI-powered virtual front door for primary care, what's likely to be on center stage at HIMSS 2026, and a Bright Spot on why truly knowing who is who across your systems matters more than ever. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Payer Audits & Denials — Logan Stokes Audits and denials are up, and the dollars at stake per claim are climbing. Even a small uptick in denials can translate into millions of dollars in delayed or lost revenue. Revenue cycle leaders are tightening documentation, medical necessity support, and prior authorization workflows to keep from sliding backwards. 📍 Regional Expansion — Teresa Vaughn WVU Medicine is stepping in to acquire Independence, which operates five hospitals in western Pennsylvania. The move brings capital investment and specialty support, but raises questions about competition, physician alignment, and whether local care stays local or shifts to a distant hub. 📍 State Cost Oversight — Xavier Banks Oregon's cost-growth program is putting pressure on hospitals. State officials called out St. Charles Health System for cost increases described as "unacceptable." More states are experimenting with cost-growth benchmarks and transparency rules that put hospital numbers in public view. 📍 AI Virtual Primary Care — Jade Romero K Health is expanding partnerships with major health systems. Northwell Health is using AI to power 24/7 virtual primary care, routing patients from AI-assisted intake to human clinicians when needed. The model promises faster access and better ability to keep patients inside the health system's ecosystem. 📍 HIMSS 2026 Preview — Nate Collier HIMSS 2026 is signaling that AI-powered diagnostics, new care models, and interoperability will be front and center. Leaders can expect mature case studies on AI in clinical workflow, command centers, and care redesign that crosses hospital, ambulatory, and home settings. Bright Spot: Verato's Nick Orser explains why knowing "who is who" across every system and every step of the patient journey has become 10 times harder—and 10 times more important. Master data management and identity resolution are now foundational to delivering connected experiences. Jalen Cross reports.

Today on HITshow: When coverage gets more expensive and policy gets more complicated, the pressure lands squarely on your hospitals and clinics. We're tracking what looming changes in coverage costs could mean for payer mix and bad debt, the Medicaid pressure cooker for safety-net and rural hospitals, a payer-EHR partnership making the front door less painful, AI tools aimed directly at clinicians, and a fresh twist on remote monitoring for high-risk infants. We'll wrap with a Bright Spot on blending virtual front doors, in-home care, and hospital-at-home into a single branded experience. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Medicaid Under Pressure — Teresa Vaughn & Peter Betterworth Safety-net and rural hospitals are walking a tightrope as Medicaid policies shift. Leaders need to know exactly how dependent they are on these dollars and where the real pressure points are. 📍 Front Door Integration — Peter Betterworth A payer-EHR partnership is putting coverage details right inside the check-in workflow. Simple idea, but the operational ripple effect matters for cash flow and patient experience. 📍 AI for Clinicians — Ida Klein AI-powered clinical intelligence platforms are already in your clinicians' digital backpacks. The question is whether your organization is keeping up or staying blind to what they're using. 📍 Infant Remote Monitoring — Anika Shah Home infant monitors are now feeding data into hospital remote patient monitoring for high-risk babies. The model promises safer early discharges—if the implementation is done right. Bright Spot: Ovatient is blending virtual care, in-home services, and hospital-at-home into a single branded experience that lives inside the health system. CEO Michael Dalton explains how this extends your reach without building new buildings. Jalen Cross reports. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Today's theme is meeting consumers where they are—with simpler benefits, less paperwork, more integrated research, and care that comes to the home. Cigna launches Clearity, a new copay-only plan designed to make out-of-pocket costs more predictable. Humana and Epic turn on digital insurance cards and automated coverage checks, aiming to retire a little more paperwork at check-in. Advocate Health makes clinical trials part of standard care across its 69 hospitals and 1,000+ care sites. myLaurel reports breakout growth in acute-care-at-home with a 575% increase in patients served. And we close with a Bright Spot about TenDollarTelehealth, a new $10 virtual front door for families staring down premium hikes and coverage loss. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Transparent Benefit Design — Xavier Banks Cigna Healthcare is rolling out Clearity, a new copay-only plan that ditches deductibles and coinsurance. Patients see fixed copays instead of guessing at what they'll owe—and health systems need to understand where they land in the tier structure. 📍 Insurance Verification Automation — Peter Betterworth Humana and Epic are automating the coverage verification process for Medicare Advantage members across roughly 120 health systems. The goal: shorter check-ins, fewer coverage errors, and less staff time chasing paperwork before patients even see a clinician. 📍 Clinical Trials as Standard Care — Nate Collier Advocate Health is launching a new national center that integrates clinical trials into routine care across 69 hospitals and 1,000+ locations. The shift could change how patients access research and how health systems think about innovation. 📍 Hospital-at-Home Growth — Logan Stokes myLaurel reports explosive 2025 growth in acute-care-at-home services—575% more patients served than last year. The numbers signal that home-based high-acuity care is moving from pilot to core capacity strategy. Bright Spot: TenDollarTelehealth, led by Dr. Renee Dua, promises $10 primary and urgent-care visits—no insurance, no copays, no deductibles—for residents in several large states, with broader expansion planned. As 24 million people face coverage loss and 70 million carry high-deductible plans, the service aims to make care more accessible by removing the friction of traditional insurance. Jalen Cross reports. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Are we really set up to care for people after the visit? From urgent care to employer benefits to post-acute care, there are a lot of moving pieces. Experity teams up with Amazon Pharmacy to turn urgent care prescriptions into in-visit orders with home delivery. Nomi Health and Henry Ford Health try a different way to pay for care with direct employer contracting and zero-dollar deductibles. We're tracking highlights from seven health systems that are actually moving the needle on physician recruitment and retention. A new OIG report reveals nursing homes failed to report 43% of serious falls that sent residents to the hospital. And we close with a Bright Spot about workforce innovation—how one company is helping get clinicians to the bedside faster by shrinking the hiring and credentialing slog. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS | CO-HOST: STEVE DAILY 📍 Urgent Care & Convenience — Nate Collier Experity is integrating Amazon Pharmacy right into the urgent care visit, so patients can order prescriptions before leaving the exam room with automatic discounts applied and same-day or 1-2 day delivery in most markets. The integration aims to reduce abandoned prescriptions, cut "where's my script?" calls, and meet consumer expectations for a retail-like experience. 📍 Direct Employer Contracting — Logan Stokes In Michigan, Henry Ford Health and Nomi Health are partnering to offer direct employer contracting for self-insured companies. Employees get zero-dollar deductibles and copays when using Henry Ford's network, no surprise bills, and clearer pricing. For employers, it's a way to offer richer benefits while working directly with a specific system instead of only through traditional carrier products. 📍 Physician Recruitment & Retention — Teresa Vaughn The AMA looked at seven health systems seeing real gains in physician recruitment and retention. Four themes kept surfacing: real pipelines with local residencies and medical schools; structured mentorship and leadership development; less administrative friction through scribes and EHR support; and well-being as design, not perks—rethinking schedules and coverage models so well-being is how the work itself is structured. 📍 Nursing Home Reporting — Xavier Banks A new Office of Inspector General report found nursing homes failed to report 43% of falls with major injury and hospitalization among Medicare residents. Under-reporting was more common in for-profit, chain, and larger facilities. Hospital and health-system leaders should use their own readmission and ED bounce-back data to judge post-acute partners instead of relying solely on star ratings. Bright Spot: Axuall is shrinking the credentialing gap so clinicians can get to the bedside faster by creating a portable, verified credential wallet. Verify education, licenses, certifications, and work history once, keep it current, and reuse that verified data across multiple employers and roles instead of starting from zero every time. Jalen Cross reports. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Health systems are trying to stay safe, solvent, and scalable all at once. New Leapfrog safety grades show patient safety is increasingly a system-level sport—roughly 94% of A-graded hospitals are system-affiliated. Sarasota Memorial is breaking ground on a $507 million hospital in North Port, Florida, one of the fastest-growing cities in the region, with strategic shell space for future expansion. Luma Health acquires Tonic Health from R1, combining patient engagement and dynamic intake for Oracle Health customers. After the break, House Rx raises $55M to scale in-clinic specialty pharmacy as an alternative to traditional PBM models, Maven Clinic expands maternity and NICU support with wearables data integration, and we close with a Bright Spot on kindness and connection in healthcare. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Patient Safety Systems — Logan Stokes The Leapfrog Fall 2025 Hospital Safety Grades reveal that patient safety is now very much a system game—roughly 94% of A-graded hospitals are system-affiliated, and 95% of Straight-A hospitals have kept an A for multiple cycles. States like Utah, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, and North Carolina are leading on the share of A hospitals. The systems winning on safety have centralized playbooks, standardized protocols, and treat harm events as system problems. 📍 Growth Market Expansion — Teresa Vaughn Sarasota Memorial is breaking ground on a $507 million full-service acute-care hospital in North Port, Florida, opening in 2028 with 100 inpatient beds and three floors of shell space designed to scale to 200+ beds. The capital-efficiency strategy lets the system follow population growth without overbuilding on day one. 📍 Digital Front Door — Nate Collier Luma Health acquired Tonic Health from R1, combining patient engagement and communication with dynamic intake forms, e-consents, and patient-reported outcomes surveys. The combined platform now supports 1,000+ health systems and reaches roughly 100 million patients, using AI to automate form routing, reminder timing, and response routing back into the record. 📍 In-Clinic Specialty Pharmacy — Anika Shah House Rx raised $55M, bringing total capital to roughly $100M, to scale an in-clinic specialty pharmacy model as an alternative to traditional PBM-centric pharmacies. The company is working with 80+ clinic sites and 1,000+ providers, processing $1.5B in specialty prescriptions annually, with AI-powered "Smart PA" automation handling prior authorization work. 📍 Data-Rich Maternity Care — Jade Romero Maven Clinic is integrating wearables data and launching intensive NICU support to flag risks earlier and support discharge readiness. The approach is showing shorter NICU stays, fewer complications, reduced C-section rates, and significant cost savings per birth for employers. 📍 Bright Spot — Jalen Cross & Nick Adkins Co-founder of Pink Socks Life Nick Adkins discusses the new PINKSOCKS book and what the movement of kindness and connection means inside hospitals and clinics today.

Today on HITshow: After 40+ days of shutdown drama, Washington has flipped the lights back on under a short-term funding deal running through the end of January. Buried in that continuing resolution are very real, very immediate implications for hospitals and health systems—from telehealth and hospital-at-home to rural payment support and DSH cuts. We're tracking what the government funding deal actually does for providers in the short term, what it means to have Ochsner CEO Pete November heading to the AHA Board of Trustees right as these debates roll into the next round, and one quick example of infusion interoperability going live on the hospital floor. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Government Funding Deal — Anika Shah Congress passed a continuing resolution funding the government into late January. For providers, the short-term lifelines on telehealth, hospital-at-home, rural support, and DSH are back—but the real problem is the timing. Everything expires again in January, which means round two of negotiations starts immediately. 📍 AHA Leadership — Teresa Vaughn The American Hospital Association elected Pete November, president and CEO of Ochsner Health, to its Board of Trustees starting January 1. His experience navigating Gulf South realities—hurricanes, workforce shortages, tough payer mixes—brings operational grounding to national advocacy at a critical moment for telehealth, payment, and safety-net funding decisions. 📍 Infusion Safety & Interoperability — Peter Betterworth Duncan Regional Hospital in Oklahoma is now live with BD Alaris infusion interoperability connected to a MEDITECH EHR—one of the first real-world deployments in a community setting. Medication orders now flow directly from the EHR into smart pumps, and infusion data flows back into the record, reducing manual keying, dose errors, and improving visibility into what's actually running on each patient. Bright Spot: Fundamental XR and Elsevier are partnering on a mixed reality training program that takes anatomy and procedure training off flat screens into three-dimensional space, potentially changing how quickly clinicians get up to speed. CEO Richard Vincent discusses the partnership with Jalen Cross. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Hospitals are walking a narrow financial line with thin margins, outpatient volumes doing most of the heavy lifting, and expense pressure from workforce and supplies showing no signs of letting up. Rural maternity care is in crisis—116 rural hospitals have closed or scheduled closure of L&D units since 2020. Indiana just approved a closely watched COPA merger between Union Hospital and HCA's Terre Haute Regional with price caps and conditions. We're tracking a privacy push for wearables data that currently falls outside HIPAA, and Congress is pushing back hard on AI-driven prior authorization in Medicare before the pilot even launches. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital Financial Snapshot — Logan Stokes Kaufman Hall's National Hospital Flash Report shows September 2025 data pointing to continued thin margins, with outpatient volumes doing most of the heavy lifting. Expense pressure from workforce and supplies hasn't let up, so CFOs are threading the needle on Q4 and early 2026 capital plans. The playbook: protect outpatient growth, watch contract labor, and get more disciplined about service line contribution. 📍 Rural Maternity Crisis — Jade Romero A CHQPR analysis reveals 116 rural hospitals have closed or scheduled closure of labor & delivery units since the end of 2020. Today, only 41% of rural hospitals still deliver babies—and in a dozen states, it's less than one-third. The financing gap: 24/7 staffing costs for low-volume L&D aren't reliably covered by payers, forcing patients to travel 30-50+ minutes to reach maternity units. The report recommends standby capacity payments plus smaller delivery fees so hospitals aren't penalized for safer, lower C-section rates. 📍 Indiana Hospital Merger — Teresa Vaughn The Indiana Department of Health approved a Certificate of Public Advantage for Union Hospital in Terre Haute and HCA's Terre Haute Regional, creating a single system with price caps and conditions. Supporters say it preserves access and constrains prices; critics warn it reduces competition. Expect more states to dust off COPA frameworks as a path through consolidation fights. 📍 Wearables Privacy Legislation — Anika Shah Senator Bill Cassidy is advancing a bill to tighten protections for wearable and app-generated health data that currently falls outside HIPAA. The proposal requires clearer disclosures and stronger user controls as consumer-grade devices increasingly blend into clinical workflows. Hospitals need to map non-HIPAA data streams, prep standardized consent language, and prepare for stricter state-federal alignment. 📍 Prior Authorization Pilot Under Fire — Jalen Johnson House Democrats introduced the Seniors Deserve SMARTER Care Act to repeal the CMS Innovation Center's WISeR model before it launches. WISeR would add AI-backed prior authorization for some Medicare services in six states starting in January. Hospital revenue cycle and access teams should prepare for scenario A or B—repeal or rollout—because operational changes for ordering and documentation are non-trivial. Leadership Moves: Joint Commission names Arjun Srinivasan, MD (ex-CDC) Deputy CMO—signal: infection-prevention and quality emphasis. Clearway Health taps Brandon Newman, PharmD as CEO—specialty pharmacy plus health-system focus. AdventHealth Altamonte Springs (Florida) names David Goldman, DO CMO. Oracle Health now reports to co-CEO Mike Sicilia after September's leadership shift. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: We're starting where it matters most: health systems quietly doing the work, taking care of real patients, real clinicians, and real communities while the AI headlines yell in the background. Three organizations are expanding access, women's health, and workforce training in ways your board should be watching. We're tracking a clean patient portal rollout in California, a smart rehab joint venture in Texas, and after the break, Medicare's big move on AI heart scans, a patient engagement-plus-AI platform play, and what Clearway Health's new CEO signals for health system specialty pharmacy strategy. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Healthcare Access & Workforce — Teresa Vaughn Marshall Health Network's "Marco" mobile medical unit is rolling into rural West Virginia communities with full exam rooms wired for telehealth, bringing prevention and primary care instead of crisis ED visits. Marshfield Medical Center–Weston opened a dedicated Women's Health & Imaging Center with advanced breast imaging capabilities, signaling women's health as strategic. Dignity Health YRMC in Arizona launched a simulation and education center with high-fidelity training for nurses, techs, and physicians—real capital investment in safety and retention. 📍 Patient Portal Strategy — Nate Collier Salinas Valley Health rolled out a unified MyChart experience across hospital and clinics—one portal, one login, one place for labs, messages, bills, and scheduling. The health system is modeling what table stakes should look like in 2025 after too many organizations left patients juggling multiple sites and passwords. .📍 Rehab Joint Venture — Logan Stokes Encompass Health and BSA Health System opened the 50-bed Rehab Hospital of Amarillo as a joint venture, expanding high-acuity rehab capacity without one party absorbing all capital, keeping complex cases in-network, and aligning both partners around outcomes and throughput. 📍 Medicare AI Reimbursement — Jade Romero Medicare moved to support reimbursement for AI-assisted coronary CT analysis, helping identify coronary artery disease risk and guide decisions on whether patients need invasive catheterization. The shift nudges AI from demo to billable clinical decision support while potentially reducing unnecessary procedures, but requires real-world outcomes data, not just vendor promises. 📍 Patient Engagement Platform — Nate Collier Get Well and Rhythmx AI are combining as GW Rhythmx, pitching a unified patient engagement layer with AI-driven care pathways, fewer disconnected outreach tools, and personalized nudges based on risk and behavior. Success depends on clean EHR integration and willingness to retire point solutions rather than stack more on top. 📍 Specialty Pharmacy Strategy — Teresa Vaughn Clearway Health named Brandon Newman as its new CEO—a PharmD with health system and specialty experience signaling a push to deepen hospital partnerships around specialty pharmacy ownership. Health systems need clarity on specialty pharmacy strategy, trusted partners, and visibility into which high-cost scripts are leaking out of their network. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: Major payer moves are reshaping virtual care economics while the federal government doubles down on AI-powered cost controls. We're tracking UnitedHealthcare slashing remote patient monitoring coverage, a controversial AI prior authorization pilot raising alarm bells on Capitol Hill, the $50 billion rural health positioning officially underway, pharma giants striking White House deals to cut GLP-one prices, Microsoft targeting medical superintelligence, and breakthrough funding for brain-computer interfaces that could transform neurology care. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Virtual Care Economics — Xavier Banks Starting January 1, 2026, UnitedHealthcare will only cover remote patient monitoring for heart failure and hypertensive disorders in pregnancy under Medicare Advantage, eliminating coverage for diabetes, hypertension, and COPD monitoring. Legal experts are calling this legally dubious and a dangerous precedent that blows a massive hole in virtual chronic care economics. 📍 AI Prior Authorization Pilot — Anika Shah CMS selected six tech companies to run an AI-powered prior authorization pilot called the WISeR model in six states starting January 2026 through 2031. The concerning part: vendors get paid based on how much they save Medicare—deny more services, earn more money. Congressional pushback is already brewing, with ongoing lawsuits against UnitedHealth and Humana for AI-driven denials in Medicare Advantage. 📍 Rural Health Transformation — Teresa Vaughn All 50 states submitted applications by the November 5 deadline for the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, designed to offset Medicaid funding cuts over five years. The positioning and partnerships phase begins now, with fairness concerns about whether politically strong health systems could crowd out fragile rural hospitals that need help most. 📍 GLP-One Price Agreements — Jade Romero Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk struck new White House agreements to make GLP-one medications like Ozempic and Wegovy much more affordable through TrumpRx and future Medicare and Medicaid pricing guarantees. Hospitals must anticipate major shifts in bariatric surgery, endocrinology, and cardiometabolic service line volumes as access broadens at lower cost. 📍 Medical Superintelligence — Nate Collier Microsoft is forming a dedicated AI team led by Mustafa Suleyman to pursue medical superintelligence for diagnostics, with a line of sight to deployment in 2-3 years. This signals AI moving from hobby pilots to core infrastructure requiring partnerships, imaging workflow integration, and robust governance frameworks. 📍 Brain-Computer Interfaces — Logan Stokes Synchron raised $200 million in Series D funding for their brain-computer interface platform, preparing for pivotal trials and commercial launch of their Stentrode system for paralysis patients. The minimally invasive, catheter-based approach represents a longer-term signal about neuro-restorative care models and rehabilitation differentiation opportunities. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens.

Today on HITshow: AI, access, and affordability are under the federal spotlight today, while cyber risks and at-home care are pressuring providers to modernize. We're tracking Washington's aggressive push for AI adoption, a major obesity drug deal that could reshape hospital service lines, federal funding clarity on SNAP and Medicare claims, and the 2026 telehealth landscape. After the break, serious capital backing hospital-at-home care, AI expanding beyond radiology into rehabilitation, a cybersecurity warning about ecosystem vulnerabilities, and we'll close with a mental health collaboration that's making real community impact. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Federal AI Push — Anika Shah The HHS Chief Technology Officer is signaling an aggressive push for AI-driven modernization across healthcare, including a unified national provider directory, API-first infrastructure, and a potential app store ecosystem for health applications. Health systems need robust governance frameworks now to match the federal pace responsibly. 📍 Obesity Drug Deal — Jade Romero Eli Lilly and the federal government announced a framework to cap certain obesity medications for Medicare beneficiaries at $50 per month starting in 2026, with expanded Medicaid options and discounted self-pay pricing through Lilly Direct. The deal has massive implications for cardiovascular and metabolic service lines and long-term volume planning. 📍 Federal Funding & SNAP — Teresa Vaughn A federal judge ordered full November SNAP benefits funded while CMS resumed some claims processing operations. Food insecurity directly impacts ED utilization, readmissions, and pediatric/obstetric volumes, making payment clarity critical for cash-flow planning, especially for safety-net systems. 📍 Medicare & Telehealth 2026 — Peter Betterworth The latest AMA summary details the 2026 payment and telehealth landscape, including sustained support for key virtual care flexibilities and physician payment adjustments. Virtual care is now permanent infrastructure—health systems should budget for telehealth as core capability, not temporary accommodation. 📍 Hospital-at-Home Investment — Logan Stokes SteelSky Ventures led an investment in myLaurel, targeting acute and transitional care at home with virtual clinical oversight. Serious capital is backing hospital-at-home as core infrastructure, signaling that home-based acute care will become standard delivery model. 📍 AI in Rehabilitation — Nate Collier New data highlights growing use of AI and automation in rehabilitation and therapy operations, offering mid-market hospitals an opportunity to use automation in post-acute and outpatient settings to relieve workforce pressure. Rehabilitation settings offer good testing grounds for AI tools before deploying in higher-stakes clinical environments.

Hospital leaders are being graded on digital maturity, and the bar keeps rising. We're tracking who's setting the standard—from CHIME's Level Ten designations to the first paperless hospital in the UAE achieving full digital maturity. Then we dive into precision medicine at scale, a $100M bet on AI-native virtual care, transplant breakthroughs, and smart hospital case studies from Malaysia and Vietnam that show what digital transformation actually looks like in practice. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Digital Health Leadership — Nate Collier Eighteen health systems earned CHIME's Level Ten designation for 2025, demonstrating measurable outcomes in AI deployment, virtual care, cybersecurity, and patient engagement. Level Ten organizations aren't running pilots—they're deploying AI and virtual care across entire health systems with proven ROI. 📍 Global Innovation — Peter Betterworth Fakeeh University Hospital in Dubai became the first healthcare organization in the UAE to achieve HIMSS EMRAM Stage Seven—full digital maturity. The hospital is completely paperless with real-time data across all departments and AI-driven decision support in clinical workflows. 📍 Precision Medicine — Teresa Vaughn Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is launching the Our-Genes study with Helix, screening up to 100,000 patients for hereditary cancer and familial hypercholesterolemia. The population-scale genomics program represents a shift from reactive to proactive cancer care. 📍 AI Virtual Care Investment — Logan Stokes Tala Health raised $100M to build an AI-native virtual care platform designed as the front door for entire health systems, using AI to handle triage, scheduling, and initial assessments before connecting patients with human providers. 📍 Transplant Innovation — Jade Romero CareDx launched AI-informed kidney transplant tools including the HistoMap Kidney assay and updated molecular surveillance data, helping transplant teams predict rejection risk more accurately and personalize immunosuppression protocols. 📍 Smart Hospital Case Studies — Nate Collier Regency Specialist Hospital in Malaysia cut critical lab response time by 16% and reduced manual documentation by two-thirds with their integrated smart ward system. Sun Group's new hospital in Phú Quốc, Vietnam is launching as a born-digital facility built on Amalga, with AI-ready integrated workflows designed from day one. 📍 Pediatric Care — Xavier Banks Hackensack Meridian Health and the Valerie Fund announced a $3.5 million expansion of pediatric pain and palliative care services, increasing workforce capacity and access to specialized pediatric comfort care across the network. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens,

Today on HITshow: Major operational shifts and innovation funding dominate the day. Today's HITshow Daily covers Banner Health's Colorado restructuring with 351 layoffs, Allina Health strike in Twin Cities, and the longest federal shutdown gap in recent history. Then in our second half, Smarter Technologies aquires Pieces Technologies, Carrum Health's employer behavioral health bundles, Hippocratic AI's $126M raise, and Sheba Medical Center's personalized RNA therapy breakthrough. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital Restructuring — Teresa Vaughn Banner Health completes northern Colorado restructuring with 351 layoffs, ED and urgent care closures. Competing systems should expect immediate patient volume changes and transfer pattern shifts as Banner consolidates footprint. Remaining providers face capacity planning challenges and emergency service volume surges. 📍 Labor Action — Teresa Vaughn Allina Health providers strike over staffing levels, wages, and benefits affecting multiple Twin Cities facilities. Strike creates care delays and patient diversions, watched as template for winter labor negotiations. Industry-wide workforce pressures (staffing shortages, wage demands, benefit costs) make resolution important for contract negotiations nationwide. 📍 Federal Shutdown Government shutdown continues marking longest gap in recent history. Today is deadline for states to apply for $50B CMS Rural Health Fund, potentially reshaping rural hospital support later this year. 📍 Health Tech M&A — Logan Stokes Smarter Technologies acquired Pieces Technologies in deal signaling health tech consolidation. Company's AI-powered documentation and revenue cycle automation tools reduce clinician burden while improving coding accuracy. Market rewards proven operational ROI over future efficiency promises. 📍 Employer Benefits — Anika Shah Carrum Health expands substance use disorder bundles for employer-sponsored plans with fixed-price packages covering detox through long-term recovery. Shift toward bundled payments in behavioral health shows employers taking direct action on costs. Health systems must decide whether to compete or partner on employer-direct models. 📍 AI Funding — Jade Romero Hippocratic AI raises $126M to scale patient-facing AI tools handling routine interactions, appointment scheduling, and basic health guidance. Massive funding shows investor confidence in patient-facing AI moving beyond back-office automation to first point of contact. 📍 Medical Breakthrough — Nate Collier Sheba Medical Center develops personalized RNA-based therapy for 8-year-old with rare GNAO1 gene mutation. Lab results show 75% reduction in defective gene expression. Marks rare instance of customized genetic drug created for individual patient. Sheba plans to expand RNA drug development program to help other children in 2026. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens,

Today on HITshow: Modest wins and mounting pressures for hospital operations. Today's HITshow Daily covers CMS's 2026 physician fee schedule increases, surging CEO turnover worrying boards, and MetroHealth's credit downgrade. Then in our second half, Medicaid work requirements create planning urgency, another 92K-patient email breach, and CMS pledges payment accuracy crackdown. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Physician Payment — Teresa Vaughn CMS finalizes 2026 Physician Fee Schedule with 3.77% increase for most services, 3.26% for primary care visits. Modest gains barely pace inflation, requiring hospitals to maintain creative recruitment strategies beyond compensation adjustments. 📍 Leadership Turnover — Logan Stokes Hospital CEO exits jump 12% year-over-year (January-September), creating strategy gaps and hampering long-term initiatives. Boards need proactive succession planning and deeper internal leadership pipelines beyond reactive C-suite searches. 📍 Credit Rating — Logan Stokes Moody's downgrades MetroHealth to Baa3 with negative outlook, citing liquidity and operational pressures. Signal that many hospitals struggle despite outpatient growth. CFOs should monitor debt service coverage and days cash on hand closely. 📍 Medicaid Policy — Peter Betterworth Managed care plans urge CMS for clearer Medicaid work requirements guidance, requesting details on eligibility verification, appeals, and exemptions. Hospitals should scenario-plan now for eligibility churn, ED volume increases, and expanded charity care exposure. 📍 Cybersecurity — Anika Shah Oglethorpe mental health network reports email compromise affecting 92,000 patients. Attack highlights persistent email security vulnerabilities. Multi-factor authentication, least-privilege access, and vendor mailbox monitoring remain critical basics often treated as afterthoughts. 📍 Payment Integrity — Nate Collier CMS highlights efforts to cut wasteful spending and improve chronic care management with vague operational details. Agency recalls 3,000 federal staff during shutdown to maintain Medicare and ACA enrollment. Hospitals should expect heightened payment accuracy scrutiny alongside potential enrollment processing delays. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show.

Today on HITshow: AI becomes non-negotiable and patient access gets a major investment. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights health system executives making AI core strategy, IT leaders navigating 2026 budgets, and Assort Health's $102 million raise. Then in our second half, federal preparedness funding faces cuts, NYU Langone personalizes patient charts, and Color's Google AI-powered breast cancer screening removes referral barriers nationwide. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 AI Strategy — Jade Romero Chartis Group survey shows health system executives view AI as foundational for shifting from reactive to proactive care delivery. Leaders no longer asking if they should invest in AI, but how quickly to scale across operations for population health management and preventive care. 📍 IT Priorities — Peter Betterworth Black Book Market Research flash survey reveals 2026 IT priorities span tight, flat, and growth budgets with focus on system reliability, staffing, and integration challenges. IT leaders emphasizing vendor risk-sharing partnerships, cloud solutions, and automation to stretch existing staff. 📍 Digital Health Funding — Logan Stokes Assort Health raises $102 million for nation's first agentic AI platform focused on patient access and experience. Platform uses AI agents for appointment scheduling, insurance verification, and healthcare navigation—validating patient experience as major competitive advantage. 📍 Federal Preparedness — Anika Shah Federal hospital preparedness program faces proposed reductions, raising concerns among health system leaders. Program critical for pandemic, cyberattack, and mass casualty readiness since 9/11. Health systems must prioritize IT resilience, cybersecurity, and operational continuity with own resources. 📍 Patient Experience — Xavier Banks NYU Langone Health invites patients to share personal truths in medical charts—hobbies, pets, what matters most—helping clinicians see whole people beyond medical conditions. Initiative reflects shift toward competing on experience as healthcare becomes consumer-driven. 📍 Screening Access — Jalen Cross with Othman Laraki, Color CEO Color launches Google AI-powered national breast cancer screening program removing referral barriers for all women meeting guidelines. First broadly deployed patient-facing healthcare agent collects information, answers questions, packages for physician review, and coordinates mammogram appointments. Color covers full cancer spectrum: screening/prevention, treatment, survivorship. Takes diagnostics to home for convenient access. Program available at color.com/breast-cancer-screening. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens,

Today on HITshow: Healthcare operations mature from experiments to enterprise scale. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights University Hospitals' 1,500-bed remote monitoring expansion, CVS Health's $5.7 billion care delivery write-down, and Baxter's supply chain challenges. Then in our second half, AI partnerships move beyond pilots, C-suite alignment drives tech success, and encouraging returns on digital health investments. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Remote Monitoring — Teresa Vaughn University Hospitals rolls out continuous wearable monitoring across 1,500 beds by fall 2026, expanding far beyond ICU. Strategy targets operational efficiency, patient safety, early deterioration detection, and reduced code blue events. 📍 Retail Health Write-Down — Logan Stokes CVS Health takes $5.7 billion goodwill impairment on healthcare delivery units. Despite write-down, CEO David Joyner cites market changes from original growth thesis. CVS paid $10+ billion for Oak Street in 2023, now taking disciplined expansion approach. 📍 Supply Chain Disruption — Xavier Banks Baxter cuts 2025 profit forecast after persistent Hurricane disruptions at North Cove facility producing 60% of US IV solutions. Shares fell 20%+ to multi-year lows, lowering earnings guidance to $2.35-2.40 per share. Disruption forces hospitals to diversify suppliers and build buffer inventory. 📍 AI Operations — Nate Collier GE HealthCare partnerships with Duke and Queen's Health Systems signal shift from AI pilots to enterprise-scale operational integration. Focus on real-time analytics for capacity management, staffing optimization, and asset readiness. 📍 Technology Success — Anika Shah Deloitte and Scottsdale Institute study finds C-suite collaboration is top driver of technology success—more important than budget or vendor selection. Successful transformations prioritize workflow integration and user adoption over technology deployment alone. 📍 Digital Health Returns — Jade Romero AMA survey shows 73% of hospitals report improved clinician satisfaction and 68% see revenue cycle improvements from digital and AI tools. Key differentiator: implementation approach. Tools seamlessly integrated into workflows drive strongest returns in clinician satisfaction, patient throughput, and revenue cycle performance. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens,

Today on HITshow: Silicon Valley gets a billion-dollar hospital bet, and payers face mounting pressures. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights HCA's $1.3 billion Good Samaritan expansion, Centene's $6.6 billion Q3 loss, and ACA marketplace sticker shock as subsidies expire. Then in our second half, Amazon and Cleveland Clinic launch joint primary care, and GSK raises guidance on specialty drug strength. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital Expansion — Teresa Vaughn HCA Healthcare breaks ground on $1.3 billion expansion at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose, adding 234 single-patient rooms to reach 339 total beds by 2032. Santa Clara County has just 2.01 beds per 1,000 residents (below national average). Expansion creates 1,500 construction jobs and represents largest hospital investment in region in decades. 📍 Payer Losses — Xavier Banks Centene posts $6.6 billion Q3 loss after $6.7 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge tied to One Big Beautiful Bill Act and stock decline. Excluding impairment, company beat expectations with $0.50 adjusted EPS. Higher behavioral health and home health costs partially offset by Medicaid rate increases. 📍 ACA Marketplace — Anika Shah ACA window shopping opens with premium sticker shock as enhanced subsidies expire December 31st. Congress deadlocked on subsidy extension amid government shutdown. Open enrollment begins November 1st with consumer and insurer uncertainty. 📍 Primary Care Launch — Nate Collier Amazon One Medical and Cleveland Clinic open first joint primary care office in Avon, Ohio. Partnership combines Amazon's membership-based platform with Cleveland Clinic's specialty access and clinical expertise. Second location planned for Shaker Heights in January 2026. 📍 Pharma Earnings — Jade Romero GSK raises 2025 outlook after specialty medicines post double-digit Q3 growth. HIV and oncology drugs offset US vaccine weakness (particularly Shingrix). Company now expects annual revenue growth of 6-7% (up from 3-5% guidance). . CEO Emma Walmsley prepares January handoff to Luke Miels amid US tariff uncertainty. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26-29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: Strong earnings continue and AI shows promise in diabetes care. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights Q3 results from Universal Health Services and UnitedHealth Group, groundbreaking AI research in diabetes prevention, and FDA fast-tracking of autism therapy. Then in our second half, an interview with EY's Kim Della Torre on why 67% of families can't navigate aging care—and what health systems must do about it. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital Earnings — Logan Stokes Universal Health Services beats expectations with Q3 net income of $373 million and net revenues up 13.4% to $4.5 billion. Company raises full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $21.50-22.10 and increases stock repurchase program by $1.5 billion to $1.76 billion total authorization. 📍 Payer Performance — Xavier Banks UnitedHealth Group posts $113.2 billion in consolidated revenues (up 12% YoY) with adjusted EPS of $2.92. Company raises 2025 outlook to at least $14.90 net earnings per share and $16.25 adjusted earnings. UnitedHealthcare serves 50.1 million domestic consumers. 📍 AI Diabetes Prevention — Jade Romero JAMA study shows AI-powered app matches human coaches in diabetes prevention. Johns Hopkins research with 368 participants found 31.7% of Sweetch Health app users met CDC benchmarks versus 31.9% in human-led programs, with higher initiation and completion rates. 📍 FDA Development — Anika Shah FDA fast-tracks leucovorin as potential autism therapy for children with cerebral folate deficiency. Small clinical studies show improvements in language, communication, and adaptive behavior. Researchers advocate for national leucovorin-autism patient registry to track real-world performance and ensure safety, similar to registries for cancer treatments and vaccines. 📍 Aging Care Interview — Jalen Cross with Kim Della Torre, EY Global EY consumer survey reveals 67% can't navigate aging care system, with caregivers spending 30+ hours weekly caring for loved ones. Survey of 3,000+ people shows consumers ready for technology solutions—already using fitness watches, sleep monitoring, and telehealth post-COVID. Della Torre urges health system CEOs to engage patients in communities, provide at-home care, and shift focus from sick care to well care. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26-29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: For-profit hospitals shine in Q3 earnings season. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights strong results from HCA Healthcare and Community Health Systems, a surge in hospital M&A activity, and Optum's real-time claims platform. Then in our second half, digital health funding exceeds 2024 totals, and CVS layoffs signal Medicare strategy retreat. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital Earnings — Logan Stokes HCA Healthcare exceeds expectations with Q3 revenue of $19.16 billion (up 10% YoY) and net income of $1.64 billion (up 29%). Performance driven by state supplemental payments, improved payer mix (6.1% increase in inpatient revenue per equivalent admission), and Hurricane Helene recovery. Shares traded 2.5% higher following announcement. 📍 CHS Performance — Xavier Banks Community Health Systems beats estimates with $3.09 billion in net operating revenues (above $2.99 billion consensus). Same-location revenues rose 6% and adjusted admissions jumped 7.7%. Shares traded 25%+ higher as company crosses from negative to positive free cash flow after nine consecutive quarters of improvement. 📍 Hospital M&A — Teresa Vaughn Q3 hospital deal activity increases with 15 new transaction announcements. This activity reflects "ongoing realignment in transitioning or less attractive market models" as organizations seek resilience through outpatient care, labs, and health plan management capabilities. 📍 Claims Processing — Jade Romero Optum launches Optum Real at HLTH—AI-powered platform providing real-time claims and reimbursement processing. Over 5,000 visits processed show reduced administrative errors and improved patient experience. 📍 Digital Health Investment — Nate Collier U.S. digital health raises $3.5 billion in Q3 across 107 deals, bringing YTD total to $9.9 billion—already exceeding 2024's $8.4 billion through Q3, per Rock Health. Sector recorded 19 mega-deals ($100M+) accounting for 40% of year's funding ($3.8 billion). Notable rounds include Ambience Healthcare (AI documentation), Judi Health (benefits platform), and OpenEvidence (AI medical search). 📍 Workforce Reduction — Anika Shah CVS Health lays off 72 employees (remote workers in OH, MI, KY reporting to Hartford office) following exit from Aetna Medicare Medicaid Program after losing 2026 contract. Cuts occur December 31, 2025 through March 31, 2026, affecting primarily case manager RNs plus analysts, associates, and social workers. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: A tale of two earnings reports and rural healthcare fights back. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights contrasting Q3 results from Molina and Community Health Systems, Ballad Health's lawsuit against UnitedHealth over Medicare Advantage denials, and the government shutdown's impact on ACA enrollment. Then in our second half, the AMA's AI policy push, BD's connected care platform launch, and Verizon's 5G healthcare infrastructure play. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Hospital Earnings — Logan Stokes Molina Healthcare stock tumbles after earnings miss driven by ACA marketplace cost pressures, slashing forecasts as marketplace costs outpace premiums. Meanwhile, Community Health Systems beats estimates with 6% same-store revenue rise and 7.7% jump in adjusted admissions, showing strong operational execution and volume growth amid challenging market conditions. 📍 Legal Action — Xavier Banks Ballad Health sues UnitedHealth Group, alleging systematic denials and delays of medically necessary care in Medicare Advantage plans. The Tennessee-based rural health system serving 29 counties claims UnitedHealth's utilization management practices harm patients and divert resources from care delivery. The lawsuit seeks changes to prior authorization and medical necessity determination practices, potentially setting precedent for other provider legal challenges. 📍 Government Shutdown — Anika Shah CMS recalls furloughed workers to prepare for ACA open enrollment beginning November 1st despite federal government shutdown starting October 1st. The agency treats marketplace enrollment as essential work, ensuring healthcare.gov platform readiness and customer service operations. Extended shutdown creates ripple effects including delayed policy guidance, slower state Medicaid responses, and potential provider reimbursement impacts. 📍 AI Policy — Jade Romero AMA launches AI policy initiative to establish physician leadership in artificial intelligence governance for healthcare. The organization enters a crowded field two years after groups like Coalition for Health AI, AHA, and specialty societies published extensive guidance. AMA brings physician credibility but faces questions about offering distinctive value beyond existing frameworks. 📍 Connected Care — Nate Collier BD launches Incada Connected Care Platform at HLTH—an AI-enabled, cloud-based system unifying BD medical devices including infusion pumps, patient monitors, medication dispensing, and pharmacy robotics on AWS infrastructure. First application provides enterprise-wide medication inventory visibility through BD Pyxis Pro, leveraging three million deployed smart devices globally to transform device connectivity into actionable clinical intelligence. 📍 5G Infrastructure — Jalen Cross Verizon announces partnerships with AdventHealth and Tampa General Hospital for private wireless and neutral host network solutions. Interview with Robin Goldsmith reveals Verizon's strategy positioning connectivity infrastructure as workforce multiplier, addressing healthcare labor shortages through technology enablement rather than replacing bedside care. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: Pharma makes a major sleep medicine bet, and CMS advances national provider directory plans. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights Alkermes' $2.1 billion Avadel acquisition, CMS proof-of-concept contracts for unified provider data, and WeightWatchers' new employer GLP-1 model. Then in our second half, AI safety standards for mental health chatbots, and Bain research showing health systems are prioritizing primary care expansion and AI operations. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Pharma Acquisition — Logan Stokes Alkermes acquires Avadel Pharmaceuticals for $2.1 billion. The deal gives Alkermes immediate access to LUMRYZ, an FDA-approved once-nightly narcolepsy treatment generating $265-275 million in annual revenue with 3,100 patients on therapy. 📍 Interoperability — Nate Collier CMS awards proof-of-concept contracts to Availity, CAQH, Palantir, and Gainwell Technologies ($1 million each) to develop prototypes for a national provider directory. 📍 Employer Benefits — Peter Betterworth WeightWatchers launches RxFlexFund at HLTH—a new employer model offering flexible funding for GLP-1 medications without breaking benefit budgets. The program addresses surging demand for drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy (often $1,500+ monthly) while helping employers manage costs through flexible coverage rather than all-or-nothing decisions. 📍 AI Safety Standards — Anika Shah Spring Health introduces VERA-MH the first open, evidence-based standard for AI chatbot safety in behavioral health. The framework addresses concerns about hallucinations, inappropriate responses, and lack of clinical oversight in mental health AI applications, giving health systems and payers an evaluation framework before deployment. 📍 Strategic Research — Teresa Vaughn Bain and Company survey reveals 77% of health system executives plan to expand primary care footprint over the next 5-7 years through owned practices and employed providers. Survey of 60 executives from systems with $1+ billion revenue shows heavy AI investment to address workforce shortages and administrative burden. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: Physicians stake their claim in AI development. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights the AMA's new Center for Digital Health and AI, AWS outage disrupting 500+ hospitals, and GE HealthCare's operational AI partnerships with Duke and Queen's Health. Then in our second half, consumer innovations from HLTH: Hinge Health's AI care tools, WeightWatchers partnering with Amazon Pharmacy, One Medical's pediatric telehealth, and Verily's new health records app. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Policy & Leadership — Anika Shah American Medical Association launches the Center for Digital Health and AI, led by CEO John Whyte. The center focuses on policy leadership, clinical workflow integration, education, and collaboration to ensure physicians shape AI regulation and development. The AMA emphasizes "augmented intelligence" that supports rather than replaces physician judgment. 📍 Infrastructure Failure — Teresa Vaughn Amazon Web Services suffers major outage affecting 500+ hospitals, beginning at 3 AM Eastern in the US-EAST-ONE region. DNS resolution failures disrupted hospitals, Amazon services, WhatsApp, ChatGPT, Venmo, and British government sites. AWS resolved issues by 6:35 AM. The incident highlights healthcare's critical vulnerability to cloud service single points of failure. 📍 Healthcare Innovation — Logan Stokes GE HealthCare partners with Queen's Health Systems in Honolulu and Duke Health to develop AI-driven hospital operations software. The company also unveiled 2025 AI Innovation Lab research projects, pushing GE beyond medical imaging into operational efficiency tools. ☀️ After the Break Consumer health innovations from HLTH: Hinge Health's AI Movement Analysis and Robin care assistant, WeightWatchers and Amazon Pharmacy partnering for GLP-1 home delivery, Amazon One Medical launching pay-per-visit pediatric telehealth, and Verily Me app pulling patient health records for personalized care recommendations. 🎙️ Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit_show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: Healthcare innovation takes center stage in Las Vegas. Today's HITshow Daily spotlights HLTH 2025's opening day with twelve thousand industry leaders, Rob Lowe's clinical trial advocacy with Eli Lilly, and Mark Cuban's pointed criticism of PBM pricing. Then in our second half, Cedar's new Medicaid enrollment tool, sobering statistics for Clean Hospitals Day, and Brook AI's breakthrough in remote patient monitoring retention. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Conference Coverage — Nate Collier HLTH 2025 opens in Las Vegas with 12,000 attendees at the Venetian Expo Center. The eighth annual conference features 400 speakers addressing AI, diagnostics, and workforce burnout under the theme "Heroes and Legends." CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O'Neill withdrew due to the government shutdown. 📍 Clinical Innovation — Peter Betterworth Rob Lowe and Eli Lilly spotlight the clinical trial gap, with only 7% of U.S. cancer patients enrolling in trials. Lowe shares his grandmother's breast cancer trial experience, which later became standard care, urging patients to explore trials early rather than as a last resort. 📍 Drug Pricing — Logan Stokes Mark Cuban blasts the pharmaceutical supply chain at HLTH, calling CEOs "complicit" in broken PBM pricing. Cost Plus Drugs bypasses middlemen with transparent 15% markup on over twenty-three hundred products and will join Trump's TrumpRx website as a referral partner. ☀️ After the Break A look at Cedar's digital safety net for Medicaid work requirements, Clean Hospitals Day data revealing concerning hygiene statistics, and Brook AI's remote patient monitoring achieving 82% retention—earning a $28 million Series B. 🎧 Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit.show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: Healthcare providers are under pressure — and preparing for change. Today’s HITshow Daily spotlights the Kaiser Permanente strike, Jefferson Health’s layoffs, and Cleveland Clinic’s new partnership with Khosla Ventures. Then in our second half, an exclusive focus on Google: the ROI of GenAI report, IKS Health’s agentic AI rollout, and Logan’s interview with Aashima Gupta, Global Health Leader at Google Health, ahead of HLTH 2025. HOST: RHONDA BROOKS 📍 Workforce & Labor — Logan StokesThe Kaiser Permanente strike enters day four, with 30,000 nurses and frontline workers walking out across California, Oregon, and Hawaii. Operations continue, but the action is reshaping the national conversation on staffing and burnout. 📍 Financial Restructuring — Teresa VaughnJefferson Health announces 650 layoffs, primarily in nonclinical roles, as part of a turnaround plan following its merger with Einstein Health. Leaders say the cuts will strengthen long-term stability amid tightening margins. 📍 Innovation & Investment — Logan StokesCleveland Clinic partners with Khosla Ventures to co-fund and launch new digital-health and biotech ventures, blending clinical rigor with venture-capital speed. Early focus: AI diagnostics, surgical robotics, and new care-delivery models. 📍 System Expansion — Teresa VaughnHeritage Valley will join Allegheny Health Network, extending Highmark’s regional footprint and promising shared specialty coverage and unified EHRs across western Pennsylvania. 📍 Academic Integration — Logan StokesUCSF Health completes integration of Saint Francis Memorial and St. Mary’s Medical Center, consolidating governance and technology systems to expand coordinated care throughout San Francisco. 💥 After the BreakA full focus on Google’s healthcare momentum — the ROI of GenAI report, how IKS Health is using agentic AI in clinical operations, and Logan Stokes’ exclusive interview with Aashima Gupta, Global Health Leader at Google Health — all ahead of HLTH 2025. 🎧 Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit.show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.

Today on HITshow: The Joint Commission redefines quality by elevating nurse staffing, NRC Health crowns top performers in patient experience, and Oracle’s billion-dollar Nashville campus takes shape — plus Pear Suite’s new funding and Carrum’s value-based momentum. HOST: Rhonda Brooks Today’s episode of HITshow Daily spotlights the human side of healthcare transformation — from bedside staffing and patient empathy to billion-dollar innovation and community impact. Hosted by Rhonda Brooks. 📍 Quality & Safety — Nate CollierThe Joint Commission calls it a “defining moment for nursing.” Beginning in 2026, nurse staffing will be recognized as a core quality metric, formally linking workforce adequacy to accreditation and patient outcomes. Hospitals will need to elevate nurse leadership, publish staffing data, and use analytics to prevent burnout. 📍 Patient Experience — Jade RomeroNRC Health’s 2025 Patient Experience & Consumer Loyalty Awards highlight hospitals that build trust through empathy and communication. Insights from more than 310,000 consumers show human connection now drives loyalty more than convenience or digital access. 📍 Innovation & Infrastructure — Logan StokesOracle’s $1.2 billion East Bank campus will reshape Nashville’s skyline and establish the city as a national AI and tech hub. The massive development includes two office towers, a riverfront park, and pedestrian bridge — with 8,500 jobs projected by 2031. 📍 Digital Health — Anika ShahPear Suite raises $7.6 million Series A to scale its AI-powered platform for community health workers. The software streamlines care planning, social-needs documentation, and claims submission — enabling CBOs to partner directly with Medicaid and Medicare plans. 📍 Market & Models — Teresa VaughnCarrum Health doubles covered lives to 6.7 million, expanding its Centers of Excellence bundled-care model. Employers gain predictable costs and outcomes, while hospitals face new pressure to improve coordination, pricing transparency, and referral pathways. 🌟 Bright Spot — ProducedPear Suite’s Series A & the Rise of Community Health Workers — celebrating a new era where grassroots care teams are recognized and reimbursed as vital partners in population health. 🎧 Subscribe here or wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like our show, please follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hit.show. HITshow is made possible by EY, Kimmchi and HLTH 2025 — the epicenter of healthcare innovation, where the future of care happens, October 26–29 in Las Vegas.