HITshow Daily: November 21, 2025 (Friday)

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.