Monday, February 9, 2026

< + > CIO Podcast – Episode 108: Implementing Oracle with Michael Archuleta

For the 108th episode of the CIO podcast hosted by Healthcare IT Today, we are joined by Michael Archuleta, CIO at Mt. San Rafael Hospital and Clinics, to talk about their decision to select and implement Oracle! Mt. San Rafael Hospital and Clinics recently changed their EHR, so we kick this episode off by discussing the process they went through to select a new EHR. Then we talk about the key things that led them to their decision to go with Oracle Health and their new Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent. Next, we discuss whether IT or clinical was the driving desire for AI. We then dive deeper into what implementing Oracle looks like by discussing the timeline and what Archuleta is doing to ensure it’s a success. Moving outside of the EHR, we discuss the other areas Archuleta is working on or keeping an eye on and why. Next, Archuleta gives his input on different critical access hospital IT efforts that others may not appreciate. Lastly, Archuleta passes along the best piece of advice he’s been given in his career.

Here’s a look at the questions and topics we discuss in this episode:

  • You recently decided to change EHRs, tell me about the process you went through to select a new EHR.
  • What were some of the key things that led you to choose to go with Oracle Health and their new Oracle Health Clinical AI Agent?
  • Who drove the desire for AI, IT or clinical?
  • What does the timeline for implementation of Oracle look like, and what are some of the things you’re doing to make sure it’s a success?
  • Outside of the EHR, what other areas are you working on or are keeping an eye on, and why?
  • What’s something about critical access hospital IT efforts that others may not appreciate?
  • What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in your career?

Now, without further ado, we’re excited to share with you the next episode of the CIO Podcast by Healthcare IT Today.

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Listen to the Latest Episodes



< + > Alaffia Health Raises $55M | AnswersNow Completes $40M Series B

Check out today’s featured companies who have recently raised a round of funding, and be sure to check out the full list of past healthcare IT fundings.


Alaffia Health Raises $55M to Tackle Healthcare’s $570 Billion Waste Problem

Funding Round Led by Transformation Capital to Accelerate AI Adoption Across Health Plan Operations

Alaffia Health, the leader in agentic AI for health plan claims operations, today announced a $55 million Series B financing, led by Transformation Capital, with participation from insiders including FirstMark Capital, Tau Ventures, and Twine Ventures. The round brings Alaffia’s total funding to more than $73 million.

As health plans face rising medical costs, increased regulatory scrutiny, and up to $570 billion in estimated annual administrative waste, demand is growing for AI that can deliver savings without introducing compliance or provider-relations risk. Founded in 2020 by sibling duo TJ Ademiluyi and Adun Akanni, Alaffia was built to address these challenges, drawing on firsthand experience growing a family business focused on revenue cycle management.

Driving Compelling Savings and Operational Efficiency for Health Plans

Today, Alaffia partners with leading regional and national health plans to help them scale clinical review capacity and unlock significant savings. Alaffia has delivered millions of dollars in medical cost savings, reduced turnaround times from weeks to days, and improved consistency across findings.

By pairing expert clinicians with AI that forensically evaluates claims against the complete patient medical record, Alaffia enables faster, more accurate, and more defensible outcomes across the entire claims lifecycle. Its solutions have delivered 20%+ average savings on high-cost facility claims and 5x+ ROI for leading health plans.

“Health plans are under immense pressure to reduce administrative costs and drive affordability for their members, and like many industries, they’re starting to see the value of emerging AI solutions,” said TJ Ademiluyi, Co-Founder and CEO at Alaffia…

Full release here, originally announced February 3rd, 2026.


AnswersNow Completes $40M Series B to Expand BCBA-Driven, AI-Enabled Autism Therapy

AnswersNow, the leader in virtual Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy, today announced that it has raised $40 million in Series B funding led by HealthQuest Capital, with participation from existing investors Left Lane Capital, Owl Ventures, and others. AnswersNow delivers clinically proven outcomes in one-sixth the hours of traditional therapy, creating substantial cost savings for payors while delivering superior results for families.

This new capital will be used to aggressively scale the AnswersNow platform and team to meet demand for its autism support services. The company plans to double its clinical staff, make new leadership team hires, and roll out new service offerings in the coming months. It will also continue to invest in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to drive personalization and efficiency.

Superior Outcomes with 85% Fewer Therapy Hours

AnswersNow’s AI-enabled platform connects Board-Certified Behavioral Analysts (BCBAs) with families from anywhere in the country for highly personalized 1:1 virtual therapy sessions. This innovative model has revolutionized autism care by achieving significant improvements in Vineland Scores within just six months while requiring only 4-5 hours of therapy per week, compared to the 30+ hours required by traditional, in-person ABA therapy. This dramatic reduction in necessary therapy time delivers cost savings of up to 75% for insurance providers and Medicaid plans, making high-quality autism care financially sustainable for the healthcare system.

“The data shows that by exclusively using Master’s- and PhD-level BCBAs for targeted parent training, in combination with our AI-enabled, focused therapy for children, we can achieve equal or better outcomes at a fraction of the time and cost,” said AnswersNow CEO Jeff Beck. “Our powerful care-delivery model makes proven autism therapy accessible for families and financially sustainable for payors.”

Personalized AI Modules Adapt to Each Child’s Unique Learning Needs

A key driver of AnswersNow’s impact is a proprietary AI platform that creates individualized learning modules tailored to each child’s specific interests and affinities. This helps AnswersNow BCBAs continuously adapt content based on a child’s engagement patterns, ensuring sessions align perfectly with what motivates each unique child.

“The power of our platform is its ability to recognize and adapt to each child’s natural affinities,” Beck continued…

Full release here, originally announced January 21st, 2026.



Sunday, February 8, 2026

< + > Bonus Features – February 8, 2026 – 60% of healthcare employees say ChatGPT reduces burnout, hospital operating margins hovered at 1.2% in 2025, plus 34 more stories

Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.

News

Studies

Partnerships

Products

Implementations

Company News

People

If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.

May the party you attend for this weekend’s important sporting event have your favorite snacks.



Saturday, February 7, 2026

< + > Weekly Roundup – February 7, 2026

Welcome to our Healthcare IT Today Weekly Roundup. Each week, we’ll be providing a look back at the articles we posted and why they’re important to the healthcare IT community. We hope this gives you a chance to catch up on anything you may have missed during the week.

Epic Ambient AI Charting, Plus More Updates on Epic’s AI Solutions. John Lynn connected with Corey Miller at Epic to learn about the work that went into the company’s new charting tool, which has full context of the patient’s chart to orient documentation and orders to that specific patient. John and Corey also discussed the potential presented by integrating AI Charting with other Epic systems. Read more…

Rethinking Resilience in Radiology Workflows. RapidAI CEO Karim Karti joined Colin Hung to talk about supporting radiology systems that can continue functioning without full connectivity – a critical need amid cyberattacks or other disruptions to IT infrastructure. Read more…

How AI Enhances Outreach to Blood Donors. John talked to Lynne Briggs and Chris Miskel at Versiti, as well as Dr. Justin T. Collier at Lenovo, about using AI to provide personalized outreach to donors, automate documentation, and seek more precise diagnoses and treatment options. Read more…

Turning Analytics Into Actions That Clinicians Actually Use. Colin connected with Holly Rimmasch and Kathleen Merkley at Health Catalyst, which emphasizes the value of near-real-time data as something clinicians can recognize, remember, and act on while cases are still fresh. Read more…

Life Sciences Today Podcast: Payments, Pain, and Pragmatic AI. John Chinnici at Ledger Run joined Danny Lieberman to discuss why delayed, incorrect, and bureaucratic payment processes are an accepted but damaging status quo in clinical research. Read more…

Healthcare IT Today Podcast: Intriguing Stats. John and Colin unpack the meaning behind stats such as 25% of active ChatGPT users asking health-related questions and 80% of health systems using generative AI for RCM. Read more…

America Needs a Healthcare Clearing Corporation. Decades ago, Wall Street was overwhelmed by millions of physical documents. The industry transformed itself by standardizing transaction formats, automating matching, unifying technology requirements, and centralizing payments. It’s time for healthcare to do the same, said Stuart Z. Goldstein. Read more…

How to Reduce No-Show Appointment Rates With One Button. No-shows cost an average of $150,000 per physician annually, along with the negative impact of waster resources and delayed care. The solution is simple, according to Joep Leussink at AddEvent: An “Add to Calendar” button in appointment confirmation and reminder messages. Read more…

HTI-5: Less Red Tape, More AI Flexibility. In the latest post in the Healthcare Regulatory Talk series, Dr. Nick Barger at DrFirst noted the ASTP/ONE proposal to reduce certified EHR criteria in HTI-5 and indicated that HTI-4’s fast-approaching deadlines for real-time prescription benefit checks and electronic prior authorization remain in place. Read more…

Removing Friction in Healthcare IT Starts With Identity and Access. Clinical staff have different levels of access at each facility they visit, which IT teams have previously treaded as islands. Effectively managing identities is a matter of setting permissions early on, as this will reduce vulnerabilities and improve patient care, said Paul Dant at Radiant Logic. Read more…

The End of Manual Enrollment? How Intelligent Automation Is Taking On First-Mile Insurance Data. Brokers can spend up to 60% of their time cleaning up data, according to Deepak Singh at Adeptia. Putting intelligent document processing in the hands of business users is an important step forward. Read more…

This Week’s Health IT Jobs for February 4, 2026: The University of Texas Medical Branch seeks a VP and CIO. Read more…

Bonus Features for February 1, 2026: 64% of nurses wouldn’t feel legally protected if an AI tool caused patient harm; 59% of patients use at least one app to manage medications. Read more…

Funding and M&A Activity:

Thanks for reading and be sure to check out our latest Healthcare IT Today Weekly Roundups.



Friday, February 6, 2026

< + > Epic, Ambient AI Charting, Pepper Spray – Fun Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  We hope you had a great week and are ready for an incredible weekend.  Since it’s Friday, that means it’s time for another edition of our Fun Friday series where we can hopefully find humor in the extremely serious task of healthcare.  Plus, sometimes the humor can even teach us something valuable.

This week’s edition is brought to you by the incomparable Dr. Glaucomflecken.  I’m not sure how I missed these since they’ve been around for a little bit, but probably because he’s mostly doing TikTok now and I only really do Healthcare IT Today on TikTok (Be sure to follow us there!), but I digress.  Let’s get back to the humor around a number of great health IT topics.

@drglaucomflecken♬ Creepy and simple horror background music(1070744) – howlingindicator

It’s such an eternal discussion for a software company. You want the software to be infinitely customizable, but completely functional out of the box. It’s a tough balance and really does require a balance that can never be perfect.

@drglaucomflecken♬ original sound – Dr. Glaucomflecken

I find it amazing the Microsoft paid Dr. Glaucomflecken for this. Would be fun to know the details of that and the impact of it (Check out our healthcare marketing conference if you’re a healthcare marketing nerd like me). Although, the happy primary care doctor is great comedy. Nicely done and really does reflect what we’re seeing with Ambient AI charting.

@drglaucomfleckenWhat if you get pepper sprayed?

♬ original sound – Dr. Glaucomflecken

Ok. This one isn’t IT related at all, but nothing like getting pepper spray advice from an eye doctor. Hopefully none of you need this video, but what a sign of the times.

I hope you enjoyed the humor and have a great weekend. We’ll be back next week with more great healthcare IT content.



Thursday, February 5, 2026

< + > Epic Ambient AI Charting Released and More Updates on Epic’s AI Solutions

Yesterday, Epic held a winter version of their “Cool Stuff Ahead” presentation for their customers that they generally save for their annual Epic UGM conference (See last year’s writeup of Epic UGM).  At the event, Epic announced a number of details on the progress they’re making with their AI tools including the release of their highly anticipated Epic ambient AI charting solution (AI medical Scribe/Ambient Clinical Voice solution if you prefer).

To learn more about these announcements and Epic’s AI efforts, I had a chance to interview Corey Miller, VP of R&D at Epic.  Miller is focused on Epic’s AI charting solution inside Art (Epic’s Clinical AI) and so he offers some great information on what they’ve accomplished and some of where they’re heading with the solutions.  Plus, he also shares some of the progress they’re making with Penny (RCM) and Emmie (Patient) along with sharing that MyChart Central is now available in all 50 states.

Check out our interview with Corey Miller from Epic to learn more.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Epic.

Corey: As a developer at Epic, right now I’m focused on AI Charting and our inpatient clinical applications, with an eye toward making sure we deploy AI that truly helps health care workers and health systems. I’ve also worked on web infrastructure teams at Epic.

Talk about the pace of AI innovation and why that prompted Epic to do a winter “Cool Stuff Ahead” session for customers when it’s usually held off for Epic’s UGM in the summer.

Corey: When we announced Art, Emmie, and Penny in August, we laid out a clear roadmap—and we just couldn’t wait 12 months to share what we’ve been building. Epic’s AI usage grew by over 40 times in 2025, AI Charting with Art is now released, and there’s a lot more coming. So we wanted to update our customer community on our progress.

What’s included in the new AI Charting feature that’s now part of Art and integrated directly within Epic?

Corey: Today, Art can draft notes and suggest orders based on the clinician-patient conversation. The initial release also includes voice agent capabilities, so clinicians can personalize their note format through natural conversation. They might say they want bullets instead of paragraphs for the HPI, or that they prefer a different documentation style for well-child visits versus acute visits. Art then carries these personalization touches forward to future notes.

We’re moving quickly, and Art is going to become more and more capable. In March, we plan to release diagnosis-aware notes that link assessments and plans to specific diagnoses on the patient’s problem list. AI Charting for bedside nursing workflows is coming in March, too.

What makes Art different is the deep integration across Epic. AI Charting has full context of the patient’s chart—medications, problem lists, prior history—so it can orient documentation and orders to that specific patient. That integration is going to matter even more as we introduce capabilities like updating family history based on conversation and surfacing patient-specific insights during treatment discussions.

Epic spent a significant amount of time on site with clinicians to create AI Charting. What were some of the key things you heard from clinicians that shaped the product into what it is now?

Corey: What we heard consistently is that clinicians don’t just want a note—what they really want is to reclaim time for patient relationships and clinical decision-making. So throughout development, we’ve focused on reducing edit distance, meaning the AI returns notes that require fewer and fewer changes over time. And we’re focused on expanding beyond documentation to become an active assistant in the room.

What are some unique aspects of AI Charting in Art that are worth noting, especially when it comes to workflow and integration?

Corey: AI Charting knows the patient’s medications, problem list, and history. When it suggests orders, it references what the patient has done before and what’s clinically indicated.

That integration is going to become even more important as we release more capabilities. The vision is an intelligent visit where AI surfaces relevant information on the fly, without the clinician needing to go looking for it.

Here’s what that means for the future: If the conversation turns to blood pressure, Art will automatically pull up the patient’s trends. Or it might pull information from Cosmos—our dataset of over 300 million anonymized patient journeys—to support discussion and decisions in real time.

How else are you seeing Art used by clinicians?

Corey: There’s a lot to point to. For example, Art’s Insights feature brings together information from across the patient chart into a concise summary to help clinicians prepare for visits. It’s now used over 16 million times each month—nearly three times what we saw in November 2025. In addition to this, nurses are using AI-assisted end-of-shift notes to make handoffs quicker and easier.

Another big one is actionable follow-ups for radiology. Art can extract lung nodules, Lung-RADS assessments, and recommendations from a radiologist’s impression. At The Christ Hospital in Ohio, Art reviewed routine chest x-ray reports for incidental findings that might otherwise have been overlooked. That led to over 100 cases of lung cancer being detected earlier. The national average for early detection is 46%—they’re identifying it early in 69% of cases. That’s lives saved through timely follow-up.

What are some of the results of healthcare organizations adopting Penny for RCM? What are some of the key features that are making this impact?

Corey: Organizations are seeing significant gains—20% reductions in coding denials, and denial appeals created over 20% faster than they used to be. That all translates to health systems getting paid for the work they do more quickly.

How are patients embracing Epic’s AI for patients called Emmie? What are the top things that they’re doing with Emmie?

Corey: Emmie is helping patients schedule appointments, understand their bills, make payments, set up payment plans, and generate detailed statements for reimbursement. It can even explain why patients owe what they owe by pulling together the relevant details from their account. So patients get answers faster, and our customers can refocus staff time on the truly complex cases.

What’s been patients’ and provider organizations’ reaction to Epic MyChart Central providing a single Epic login experience across healthcare organizations?

Corey: Since launching last August, MyChart Central is now live in all 50 states. Patients get a consistent identity across all their Epic providers, so when they show up at a new organization, the system already knows who they are.

What can we expect from Epic between now and Epic UGM?

Corey: We’re continuing to move at a rapid pace. With over 160 AI-related projects in progress, there’s a lot more to come between now and then.



< + > How RapidAI Is Rethinking Resilience in Radiology Workflows

Karim Karti, CEO of RapidAI, joined Healthcare IT Today to talk about why radiology AI platforms need to be more adaptable to the realities of modern healthcare. Radiologist shortages, staff burnout, cyber incidents, fragile connectivity, and tight budgets all shape how imaging technology is used day to day, often in ways product roadmaps did not originally anticipate.

Key Takeaways

  1. Cloud architecture is helpful to radiologists for many reasons. We must assume downtime will happen and design for it; RapidAI’s ability to toggle seamlessly from cloud to on-prem is a direct response to real cyber events.
  2. The goal of AI in radiology is prediction, not just productivity. Workflow efficiency is only the stepping stone; the real strategic shift is toward predictive imaging that supports earlier intervention and prevention.

Why Resilient Cloud Architecture Matters Beyond Cybersecurity

Cloud adoption in healthcare is often framed around efficiency and scale, while downtime planning gets treated as an edge case. RapidAI took a different approach with its Edge Cloud infrastructure, designed to operate in the cloud while also supporting on-prem when needed, without interrupting clinical workflows.

That flexibility acknowledges the operating reality that many other vendors miss: healthcare organizations experience many forms of disruption, from cyber incidents to connectivity gaps, and patient care does not pause for any of them.

Karti explained that the approach was driven directly by customer experience and feedback, especially in high-stakes settings like stroke care.

“We built it based on customer needs and the requests we received. In the case where customers are experiencing a cyberattack or need to disconnect from the cloud, they still need our application, especially for acute patients.”

That capability has already been used in real-world situations.

“We already have many instances where actually customers had to use this capability. We were one of the few applications actually running the hospitals and allowing patients to be treated.”

As healthcare IT infrastructure becomes more complex and interconnected, interruptions are increasingly part of the operating environment. Systems that can continue functioning without full connectivity are no longer just safeguards. They are part of how care gets delivered reliably under less-than-ideal conditions.

How Predictive AI Is Becoming the Real Endpoint for Radiology

Efficiency gains often dominate AI discussions in radiology, but Karti pointed to a longer horizon. As imaging volumes rise and workforce constraints persist, productivity improvements alone are not enough. The greater opportunity lies in using AI to help radiologists move from reactive interpretation toward predictive insight.

“Ultimately where all this is going is helping them get into more predictive capabilities, because that’s what patients are looking for, that’s what physicians are looking for.”

Early AI adoption has focused on removing repetitive tasks and accelerating reads. As the technology matures and trust grows, those gains create space for more advanced use cases. Earlier detection, better tracking over time, and more informed intervention all become possible when radiologists can focus less on volume and more on what comes next.

What Infrastructure Choices Reveal About the Future of Care Delivery

RapidAI’s approach highlights a factor that will become an important factor in how healthcare technology is evaluated. Cloud solutions increasingly need to account for continuity, not just convenience. At the same time, AI platforms are being measured by their ability to support long-term clinical insight, not just short-term efficiency.

Together, those priorities reflect where radiology is heading: toward systems designed for real-world conditions, and toward care models that emphasize anticipation over reaction.

Learn more about RapidAI at https://www.rapidai.com/

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< + > CIO Podcast – Episode 108: Implementing Oracle with Michael Archuleta

For the 108th episode of the CIO podcast hosted by Healthcare IT Today, we are joined by Michael Archuleta, CIO at Mt. San Rafael Hospital ...