What You Should Know
According to the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Pharmacy Study, overall mail-order pharmacy satisfaction rose 2 points year-over-year to 699 (on a 1,000-point scale), while brick-and-mortar satisfaction dropped 7 points to 669.The divergence is driven by weakening consumer trust and perceived value in physical retail stores, whereas mail-order growth is fueled by strong live-agent phone support and seamless digital tools.Good Neighbor Pharmacy ranked highest among brick-and-mortar
Read More
AMS Solutions Releases 2026 Benchmark Report on The State of Medical Billing
What You Should Know
Physician-founded revenue cycle vendor AMS Solutions published its State of Medical Billing 2026 benchmark report, detailing a rise in industry-wide claim denial rates to 9% (up from 7.5% in 2023).Increased Medicare Advantage penetration and automated machine-learning claim reviews by commercial payers are driving higher denial rates, extended days in accounts receivable (averaging 42 days, up from 38), and stricter documentation requirements.Neurology exhibits the
Read More
M&A: Doctronic Acquires Virtual Pediatric Platform Summer Health to Expand AI Primary Care
What You Should Know
AI-native primary care company Doctronic has acquired virtual, text-based pediatric care platform Summer Health to extend its clinical platform from birth through adulthood.The acquisition integrates Summer Health’s proprietary repository of more than 100,000 real-world pediatric text interactions into Doctronic’s clinical data architecture to train pediatric-specific conversational AI models.Summer Health founder and CEO Ellen DaSilva joins Doctronic as Senior Vice
Read More
CB Insights Q2 2026 State of Digital Health Report: Fewest Deals in Over a Decade as Median Sizes Rise
What You Should Know
The latest CB Insights report, Q2 2026 State of Digital Health reveals global digital health deal activity reached a decade-low of 228 deals in Q2 2026, marking a 36% decline quarter-over-quarter and a two-thirds drop from the Q2 2022 peak of 688 deals. Total equity funding fell 24% quarter-over-quarter to $5.7 billion, with capital concentration escalating as a small handful of mega-rounds anchored overall venture volume.Isomorphic Labs’ $2.1B Series B
Read More
Mayo Clinic and Einstein Hospital Israelita Partner to Expand Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect
What You Should Know
Mayo Clinic and Brazil’s Einstein Hospital Israelita completed a technological integration milestone to make de-identified clinical data from South America accessible via Mayo Clinic Platform_Connect.The collaboration expands global demographic, genetic, and regional clinical representation within Mayo Clinic’s privacy-preserving healthcare innovation ecosystem.Einstein Hospital Israelita joined Mayo Clinic Platform’s Early Adopter Program to establish secure, cloud-based
Read More
RWJF Report Analyzes Hospital Financial and Workforce Strains Under OBBBA
What You Should Know
A joint report by the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation analyzes five major federal policy shifts threatening hospital financial stability and operational sustainability.Medicaid work requirements and semi-annual redeterminations under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), combined with ACA Marketplace subsidy expirations, are projected to cause millions to lose health coverage.State-Directed Payment caps and provider tax reductions under OBBBA will cut
Read More
M&A: Included Health to Acquire Clinically-Integrated Health Plan Firefly Health
What You Should Know
All-in-one healthcare delivery firm Included Health has signed a definitive agreement to acquire clinically integrated health plan and advanced primary care provider Firefly Health, with closure targeted for Q3 2026.The combined entity pairs Included Health’s AI-native navigation platform with Firefly’s NCQA-accredited advanced primary care model, dynamic benefit design, and a nationwide network of 2,300+ in-person, in-home, and specialty partners.Across its full
Read More
Mount Sinai Medical Center Extends Epic’s Ambient AI to Inpatient Nursing
What You Should Know
Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach has launched "Chart with Art," Epic's ambient AI documentation tool, for its inpatient nursing staff.The deployment makes Mount Sinai the first health system in Florida and the fourth nationwide to extend Epic's ambient listening technology to bedside nurses.The platform operates in both English and Spanish, accommodating a primary care community where over 30 percent of patients speak Spanish as their primary language.Inpatient
Read More
MUSC Health Expands Epic-Integrated AI Agent “Emily” to Retail and Specialty Pharmacy Workflows
What You Should Know
MUSC Health expanded "Emily," its conversational AI agent built on SoundHound AI's platform, into retail and specialty pharmacy operations following 2.2+ million successful patient calls since its 2024 initial deployment.The expanded platform represents one of the first agentic voice implementations integrated directly into an Epic EHR environment for real-time transactional workflows.Patients can process prescription refills, receive real-time status updates, check
Read More
RWJBarnabas Links Real-Time Epic EDI Alerts Directly to Rapid Response Teams
What You Should Know
A multi-hospital, 23,132-patient study led by RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (DOI: 10.1056/AIoa2500973) evaluated an enterprise rollout of the Epic Deterioration Index (EDI).Following implementation across 11 acute care hospitals, in-hospital mortality among high-risk patients (EDI score >60)dropped from 23.1% to 18.6%, representing an 18% reduction in the risk-adjusted odds of death.Rather than relying solely on passive EHR
Read More
