What You Should Know
The Upgrade: The Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent has expanded beyond simple note-taking. It now uses ambient listening to automatically draft clinical orders—including prescriptions, labs, imaging, and follow-ups—during the patient appointment.The Intelligence: Unlike basic speech-to-text, the system uses "advanced reasoning" and semantic understanding. It analyzes patient history, physician "favorites," and organizational preferences to propose the correct dosage or test
Read More
MEDITECH Announces Passing of Founder Neil Pappalardo; Michelle O’Connor Named Interim Chair
What You Should Know
The Loss: A. Neil Pappalardo, the founder of MEDITECH and widely considered the "father" of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) industry, passed away on January 27, 2026, at the age of 83.The Legacy: Pappalardo co-authored MUMPS, the programming language that became the backbone of healthcare computing, and pioneered the concept of "one patient, one record" long before interoperability was a buzzword.The Future: MEDITECH President and CEO Michelle O'Connor will serve as
Read More
VA Allocates $1B for EHR Modernization as Part of Record FY26 NRM Spend
What You Should Know
The Record: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a $4.8B investment for FY 2026—the largest single-year commitment to Non-Recurring Maintenance (NRM) in the agency's history.The Tech Angle: While much of the funding goes to physical repairs, a massive $1B is specifically earmarked for the maintenance and modernization of electronic health record (EHR) systems and facility preparation for future updates.The Breakdown: The spending includes $2.8 billion for
Read More
Oracle May Cut 30k Jobs and Sell Cerner to Fund $156B OpenAI Deal
What You Should Know
The Report: Investment bank TD Cowen claims Oracle is evaluating "multiple paths" to finance its massive AI datacenter build-out, including cutting 20,000 to 30,000 jobs and potentially selling its health tech unit, Cerner, the Register reports.The Cause: The financial pressure stems from Oracle’s $300B contract with OpenAI, which requires an estimated $156B in capital spending for GPUs and infrastructure—a burden that has spooked U.S. debt investors.The Indicators: Risk
Read More
Premise Health and Crossover Health Merge to Expand Advanced Primary Care
What You Should Know
The Deal: Premise Health and Crossover Health have signed a definitive agreement to merge, creating a unified direct healthcare entity serving over 400 organizations and millions of members.The Scale: The combined organization will operate nearly 900 wellness centers across the U.S., offering a massive hybrid footprint of onsite, nearsite, and virtual care.The Leadership: Premise CEO Stu Clark will lead the new organization, but in a rare move for mergers of this size,
Read More
CB Insights Report: Digital Health Funding Hits $22.3B as 14 New Unicorns Emerge
What You Should Know
The Rebound: According to the new State of Digital Health 2025 report from CB Insights, digital health funding rose 19% YoY to $22.3B in 2025, driven by fewer, larger checks—average deal size jumped 29% to $20.3M.The Consolidation: M&A activity surged 33% to 210 deals, ending a three-year decline. The market saw massive exits like Thermo Fisher’s $9.4B acquisition of Clario and Waystar’s $1.3B purchase of Iodine Software.The AI Moat: Artificial Intelligence was the
Read More
KLAS 2026 Rankings: Aledade and Guidehealth Named Top VBC Enablement Firms
What You Should Know
The News: A new KLAS Research report, Value-Based Care Enablement Services 2026, evaluates the firms helping healthcare organizations transition from fee-for-service to risk-based models.The Leaders: Aledade (95.7 score) and Guidehealth (87.5 score) top the performance charts, praised for their ability to operationalize insights and drive tangible financial results.The Divide: The report reveals a sharp split in satisfaction. While ambulatory practices are aggressively
Read More
Prenosis Secures $40M to Build the Precision Medicine Network for Critical Care
What You Should Know
The News: Prenosis has secured a combined $40M in new capital—split evenly between a $20M Series A led by PACE Healthcare Capital and a $20M federal contract from BARDA.The Tech: The funding supports the commercial rollout of Sepsis ImmunoScore® (the first FDA-authorized AI diagnostic for sepsis) and the development of a "comprehensive precision medicine platform" for conditions like pneumonia and ARDS.The Trial: The BARDA contract funds a massive randomized controlled
Read More
Homecare Homebase 2026 Report: Medicare Advantage and AI Adoption Drive New Operational Strategy
What You Should Know
The Crisis: Despite soaring demand from an aging population, home health referral conversion rates have dropped 13% since 2018, leaving 4.2 million patients without recommended care in 2024 due to capacity constraints.The Shift: With Medicare rates decreasing by ~1.3% and Medicare Advantage (MA) now covering 54% of beneficiaries, agencies can no longer rely on rate hikes. Margin protection must come from operational precision and automated "payer playbooks."The Solution:
Read More
Sword Health Buys Kaia Health in $285M Deal to Expand AI Care Platform
What You Should Know
The Deal: Sword Health has acquired Kaia Health in a deal valued at $285M, cementing its status as the fastest-growing AI Care platform globally.The U.S. Strategy: Sword will transition Kaia’s millions of U.S. members onto its own AI platform, consolidating partnerships and eliminating a key competitor.The European Key: The acquisition unlocks the German market, where Kaia’s solution is already reimbursed by the national health system, instantly giving Sword access to 70
Read More
