Pregnancy is one of the most-expensive episodes for insurers, averaging about $19,000 for pregnancy, vaginal delivery and postpartum care, and $26,000 for cesarean births. Compared with other industrialized nations, costs in the U.S. are nearly eight times higher.
And what do mothers in the U.S. get in return for this high-priced care? They get the highest death rate per 100,000 live births in the developed world, with 18.6 deaths recorded in 2022, compared with 5.5 deaths per 100,000 in the
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Health IT | News, Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
Healthcare 2026 Forecast: Executives on AI Survival, Financial Reckoning, and the End of Point Solutions
As we peer into the healthcare horizon of 2026, a singular theme crystallizes among industry leaders: the transition from aspirational innovation to operational necessity. The executive predictions for the coming year depict a sector at a critical inflection point, where financial survival dictates that technology must evolve from fragmented point solutions into orchestrated, interoperable ecosystems.
The narrative has shifted from the mere adoption of AI to a rigorous demand for "glass-box"
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The “Second Opinion” Era: Why 86% of Clinicians Now Trust AI to Catch Missed Details
What You Should Know:
- New flagship research from athenahealth’s intelligence hub reveals a critical maturity milestone in healthcare AI: the shift from experimental admin tools to trusted clinical partners.
- A national survey of 501 clinicians and administrators found that 86% now feel comfortable delegating or sharing the responsibility of catching easy-to-miss details in patient records with AI.
- While adoption is surging—with 62% of practices now using four or more AI
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The Invisible Gap: Why Oncology EHRs Must Measure Emotional Recovery
In oncology care the clinical community has made remarkable progress in extending survival. Yet we face a persistent invisible gap in care: the emotional and cognitive recovery of patients after treatment ends. Emotional distress in cancer survivors such as anxiety, depression, and pain is not only common but also has measurable impacts on utilization, adherence, and quality of life. The next frontier in digital health is to treat this recovery as a data-driven outcome by embedding it into the
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AVIA Expands Agentic AI Collaborative with Second Health System Cohort and New Catalyst Program
What You Should Know:
- AVIA has expanded its Agentic AI portfolio by launching a second national cohort of seven health systems, including Rush University System for Health and LifeBridge Health, to operationalize AI that "does" rather than just "chats".
- The announcement also introduces "AVIA Nexus Catalyst," a new 12-week program launching in early 2026 powered by Lumeris, specifically designed to co-create AI automation frameworks for primary care. The initiative splits
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b.well Launches First Health AI SDK to Power Actionable Healthcare Assistants
What You Should Know:
- b.well Connected Health has released the first Software Development Kit (SDK) specifically designed to power healthcare AI agents with clean, real-time data from over 2.2 million providers and 300+ health plans.
- The SDK features a proprietary "13-step Data Refinery" that standardizes fragmented records, reducing the token usage for Large Language Models (LLMs) by up to 10x. This infrastructure allows organizations to build AI assistants that can safely take
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Denial Management: Closing Gaps and Reducing Revenue Leakage
Revenue leakage on the front end and mid-cycle is an ongoing challenge for hospitals and health systems. Rather than taking a reactive approach to the problem, proactively collaborating among teams prior to admission helps providers avoid playing the blame game when their claims are denied after the fact.
By focusing on reducing the number of denials before a claim is submitted, rather than trying to eliminate denials after the fact, revenue cycle managers can save time and energy. Today’s AI
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Hospital Cybersecurity Trends 2026: Top IoMT Challenges, Statistics, and Risk Management Strategies
What You Should Know:
A new report from Asimily reveals that despite the explosion of connected care, hospitals are flying blind.
- A survey of North American CISOs found that 43% list "complete device visibility" as their most urgent unsolved challenge, while one-third blame internal process breakdowns for their inability to secure medical devices. With the average hospital now managing 350,000 connected devices, the industry is struggling to move from reactive patching to
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Tebra Secures $250M to Challenge Legacy EHRs with AI-Powered Automation
What You Should Know:
- Tebra has raised $250M in new equity and debt financing, led by Hildred, to transform its EHR+ platform from a passive "System of Record" into an active "System of Action" using AI.
- The funding will accelerate the rollout of AI tools designed to automate clinical documentation, revenue cycle management, and patient marketing for independent practices. Tebra's goal is to level the playing field for private providers facing burnout and financial pressure
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HFMA Survey: 80% of Health Systems Adopt GenAI for Revenue Cycle as Documentation Risks Rise
What You Should Know:
- For decades, the "revenue cycle"—the complex machinery of medical billing, coding, and reimbursement—has been the unglamorous back office of healthcare. But in 2025, it has become the frontline of AI adoption.
- According to a new survey released by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and AKASA, the adoption of Generative AI has moved past the experimental phase into operational necessity. With nearly 9% of hospital revenue now evaporating
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