< + > Simplifying the path to digital maturity

For many healthcare organisations, the path forward on their digital transformation journey can seem overwhelming. HIMSS's ddigital mmaturity mmodels can help.

< + > Chief AI Officer at Seattle Children's walks through some successful use cases

Artificial intelligence tools have helped the organization get 100% of outpatient surgeries and 50% of inpatient surgeries opioid-free, says Dr. Zafar Chaudry. AI is helping with stroke prevention, too.

< + > HIMSSCast: Fundamentals of data governance - lessons from UNC Health, part 2

With an understanding of your organization's data, it's time to harness it for strategic goals. Greg Kuhnen, system director for analytical solutions at UNC Health Care, offers perspective on how the HIMSS Analytics Maturity Assessment Model can help.

< + > KODE Raises $27M in Series B Funding to Transform Medical Coding and Data Management

Healthcare Providers Now Have Instant Access to Certified Coders, Transforming Management of Evolving Staffing Needs With the Newly Launched AI-Enabled KODE Management Platform

KODE Health, the only on-demand medical coding platform that connects healthcare systems with certified medical coding professionals, today announced that it has raised $27 million in Series B funding led by Noro-Moseley Partners with participation from Mercury, FCA Venture Partners, Epsilon Innovation Fund, and 111 West Capital. The new funding will enable KODE to expand its vast network of certified coding professionals and further the development of AI-driven tools that enable hospitals and providers to better respond to workflow fluctuations and manage their coding operations more efficiently and effectively.

Healthcare administrative costs, which include coding expenses, now account for approximately 15 to 30% of total U.S. healthcare expenditures. Traditional medical coding services are plagued by staffing inefficiencies and bottlenecks. KODE is disrupting the conventional medical coding model through its proprietary platform that enables opportunities for certified coders and drives value to health systems by accelerating collections and reducing staffing costs.

Founded in 2021 by industry veterans Brian Dessoy and Brad Sawdon, KODE is the first and only on-demand solution designed to connect healthcare providers to the largest community of medical coding professionals across the U.S. The platform offers its certified community of “Koders” a solution to maximize their professional skill set as well as their income. By combining the latest AI technology with a human-centric approach, KODE is reshaping the healthcare administrative landscape and ensuring better outcomes for revenue cycle leaders and Koders alike.

“KODE was born out of the healthcare industry’s fundamental need for more efficiencies and cost savings across the coding ecosystem, and ultimately, bring together medical coding professionals, and hospital systems through a dynamic, easy-to-use marketplace,” said Brian Dessoy, Co-Founder of KODE Health. “We’re thankful to our investors and partners for their ongoing support of our mission and look forward to continuing to scale.”

“As we enter our next phase of development, KODE is looking to grow beyond our core focus on staffing to develop technology-first solutions leveraging AI and predictive analytics aimed at further transforming revenue cycle management,” said Brad Sawdon, Co-Founder of KODE Health. “This latest capital infusion will allow us to further invest in product development, enhance our existing platform, and scale our world-class team of Koders.”

“KODE is addressing one of the most significant yet overlooked obstacles in healthcare—coding inefficiencies that directly impact the financial and operational health of hospital systems,” said Spence McClelland, General Partner at Noro-Moseley Partners. “We’re excited to support Brian and Brad as they continue to revolutionize the medical coding space.”

KODE has undergone significant growth since inception and currently codes over a quarter million medical records a month, all while achieving consistent operational profitability. KODE has a growing customer base of over 5,500 certified coding professionals who have coded over 8 million medical records to date.

“The KODE team is at the forefront of transforming the healthcare operations landscape,” added Adrian Fortino, General Partner at Mercury. “AI adoption and the downward pressure on coding costs will dramatically change how health systems manage revenue cycle in the future. KODE’s proprietary Kode Management platform and Koder marketplace not only benefits healthcare systems but also provides an exceptional network of talented coding professionals to help address the heightened demand for innovative administrative processes for years to come.”

About KODE

KODE is a health-tech company seeking to break the traditional model of medical coding. We’ve created the first and only on-demand platform that connects hospitals and coders in real time and leverages AI to optimize a health system’s revenue cycle. For more information, visit kodehealth.com.

Originally announced January 30th, 2025

< + > Amwell Divests Virtual Psychiatric Care Business to Avel eCare in All-Cash Transaction

Divestment of Amwell Psychiatric Care Intended to Focus Product Portfolio on Key Growth Initiatives

Company Reiterates Guidance for 2024

Amwell, a global leader in digital care, today announced it has sold its Amwell Psychiatric Care (APC) business to Avel eCare, a national leading provider of clinician-to-clinician telehealth services.

With the divestiture of APC, a virtual psychiatric care service that Amwell purchased in 2019, Amwell continues to sharpen its focus on key growth areas, driving greater efficiencies and fulfilling clients’ digital care ambitions. Throughout its nearly 20-year history, Amwell has continuously adapted to market demands by leveraging its technology and healthcare expertise to enable clients to deliver high-quality care. The company’s decision to divest APC reinforces its culture of agility and commitment to meeting clients’ virtual care needs.

“The divestment of APC will enable us to increase focus on our unified, world-class digital care platform. The transaction strengthens our balance sheet while emphasizing our focus on growing accretive software contribution in our product mix,” said Ido Schoenberg, M.D., Amwell Chairman and CEO. “We’re confident Avel eCare will be a wonderful home for our APC business and will continue to offer great value to clients. Their expertise in telehealth and shared commitment to innovation make them the ideal organization to carry forward this important work. We look forward to exploring collaborative ways for Amwell and Avel to serve patients and communities together.”

Avel eCare is purchasing the APC business for approximately $21M in cash at closing and an additional earn-out payment. The sale includes APC technology, personnel, and Asana, the psychiatric clinical network affiliated with Amwell that employs and contracts with APC clinicians.

Through Amwell Medical Group (AMG), the company’s affiliated clinical partner, Amwell remains committed to delivering accessible and convenient behavioral health services, including AMG Therapy Services and SilverCloud by Amwell digital behavioral health. AMG will continue to be integrated into the Amwell suite of digital care solutions to complement clients’ clinical staffing needs.

“This transaction enables us to place an even greater focus on our mission of connecting and empowering providers, insurers, and innovators to deliver more accessible, affordable, and high-quality care,” said Schoenberg. “It also fortifies our confidence in our stated goal to achieve positive cash flow in 2026.”

Amwell reiterated its guidance for 2024, which calls for:

• Revenue in the range of $247 million and $252 million
• Adjusted EBITDA in the range of ($137) million and ($142) million
• AMG visits between 1.4 million and 1.5 million

About Amwell

Amwell is a leading hybrid care delivery enablement platform in the United States and globally, connecting and enabling providers, payers, patients, and innovators to deliver greater access to more affordable, higher-quality care. Amwell believes that hybrid care delivery will transform healthcare. We offer a single, comprehensive platform to support all digital health needs from urgent to acute and post-acute care, as well as chronic care management and healthy living. With nearly two decades of experience, Amwell powers the digital care of more than 50 health plans, which collectively represent more than 100 million covered lives and many of the nation’s largest health systems. For more information, please visit business.amwell.com.

About Avel eCare

Avel eCare is a national leader in telemedicine with over 30 years of experience delivering high-quality care across diverse communities. Its services span EMS, ER, Critical Care, Pharmacy, and Behavioral Health. Since launching its Behavioral Health services in 2017 and Crisis Care in 2019, Avel has led the way in innovative healthcare solutions, providing clinician-to-clinician support and ensuring patients receive the care they need, wherever they are.

Originally announced January 9th, 2025

< + > Latest ANZ investments for AI, rare cancer resource and more briefs

Also, Northeast Health Wangaratta has upgraded its EMR system.

< + > Seattle Children's Chief AI Officer: How do we train everyone on these tools?

Dr. Zafar Chaudry says artificial intelligence can deliver better patient outcomes, and he requires everyone at the hospital to take AI training. He and his team are configuring Google Gemini AI to handle some clinical use cases.

< + > Sagility Acquires BroadPath Healthcare Solutions, a U.S. Healthcare Focused Services Company

Acquisition Empowers Sagility to Accelerate Growth in the Mid-Market Payer Segment

Sagility, a leading tech-enabled business operations solutions and services provider in the healthcare sector, announced today its acquisition of BroadPath Healthcare Solutions, a U.S. healthcare-focused services company, headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. BroadPath operates a work-from-home delivery model with over 1,600 employees located across the U.S. and the Philippines. Its service portfolio includes member engagement, member acquisition, claims and appeals administration, provider enrollment, and credentialing.

The acquisition of BroadPath aligns with Sagility’s strategy to diversify its client base and add new capabilities to its services portfolio. This acquisition significantly expands Sagility’s market presence, adding more than 30 new clients. It further strengthens Sagility’s position among the top ten largest health plans in the U.S. In addition, the acquisition gives Sagility the opportunity to cross-sell its broad service offerings to several mid-market clients including payers, third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers, and providers. BroadPath’s member acquisition services will be a new capability addition to Sagility’s offerings.

“We are very excited to add a sizeable number of clients through the acquisition of BroadPath. Their unrelenting focus on clients and employees aligns well with our beliefs and we are confident of seamlessly integrating BroadPath’s clients and employees into our larger organization. The strong operating leadership team at BroadPath, with deep relationships across health plans, will remain with the business and continue to drive success for clients,” said Ramesh Gopalan, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer at Sagility.

BroadPath has been a pioneer in the work-from-home model even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Their proprietary Bhive platform improves employee engagement and optimizes operating metrics in a work-from-home model ensuring superior experience for employees and clients alike.

“Our clients will benefit from the opportunity to utilize the broader set of services and transformational capabilities that Sagility offers. Sagility brings advanced capabilities such as automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence which will enable our clients to further drive efficiencies and improve member engagement,” said Don Hubman, Chief Executive Officer at BroadPath Healthcare Solutions.

About Sagility

Sagility is a tech-enabled, healthcare-focused business operations solutions and services company that supports payers, providers, and their partners in delivering best-in-class operations, enhancing member and provider experiences, and improving the quality of care, all while ensuring cost-effective financial and clinical outcomes. With over two decades of experience, Sagility’s dedicated experts address complex healthcare challenges through deep domain expertise and technology innovations. The company serves five of the top ten payers in the U.S., utilizing its advanced technology, processes, and solutions to ensure efficient operations and minimize additional administrative costs. The company delivers these services through its skilled talent pool of over 38,000 professionals across five global service delivery centers located in the U.S., India, the Philippines, Jamaica, and Colombia. Visit sagilityhealth.com to learn more.

Originally announced January 29th, 2025

< + > HealthEC and VirtualHealth Unite to Launch Elligint Health: Redefining the Future of Healthcare with Intelligent Solutions

HealthEC and VirtualHealth are joining forces to form Elligint Health, marking a transformative leap toward smarter, data-driven healthcare. By fusing VirtualHealth’s award-winning medical management platform, HELIOS, with HealthEC’s industry-leading population health analytics, Elligint Health delivers precision-driven, integrated solutions that simplify complexity, enable actionable interventions, and empower healthcare organizations to thrive in value-based care models.

Positioned at the core of intelligence and the forefront of data-driven intervention, Elligint Health offers a data-agnostic platform that integrates all available data across the healthcare continuum. This aligns incentives and drives actionable strategies to close care gaps, optimize performance, and enable whole-person care.

“Healthcare demands on payers and providers are changing rapidly requiring a new perspective, and a faster response,” said Chris Caramanico, CEO at Elligint Health. “We’re leveraging the strengths of HealthEC and VirtualHealth to deliver deep insights that spark smarter health strategies, empowering organizations to make proactive, informed decisions that benefit payers, providers, and members (patients).”

Adam Sabloff, former CEO at VirtualHealth and now a board member leading Strategy and Corporate Development at Elligint Health, emphasized, “We are in an environment short on resources, where payers and providers are struggling to keep up with evolving regulatory requirements and service demands. Payers need to adapt to change quickly to effectively support their members, while providers require a more robust toolset for managing patients from a quality and financial perspective. Together we can quickly deliver the solutions our clients need to grow, thrive, and better serve the individual.”

In an environment where economic and financial pressures are mounting, KLAS Research highlights the growing demand for solutions to move from reactive to proactive, and retrospective to prospective management of whole-person care delivering strong ROI and aligned incentives. Elligint Health answers this call with tools that enable healthcare organizations to:

• Integrate and analyze all available data to deliver precise intelligence utilizing FHIR-native toolsets
• Identify high-risk populations leveraging predictive risk stratification and manage complex populations with actionable intervention
• Automate and streamline care management and care coordination to close gaps and drive better patient outcomes through configurable workflow
• Optimize utilization management through intelligent AI-driven prior authorizations and auto-determination
• Achieve end-to-end value-based care performance with smarter, unified strategies

About Elligint Health

Elligint Health, established in 2024, is leading the charge of innovating healthcare by aligning all stakeholders, delivering intelligent healthcare solutions, and empowering pro-active, whole-person care across the healthcare continuum. Elligint Health integrates vast amounts of data from across the healthcare continuum, delivering intelligence that informs decision-making, enhances care coordination, and improves outcomes. Focused on enabling actionable intervention and whole-person care, Elligint Health helps healthcare organizations navigate complexity, turning insights into strategies that benefit providers, payers, and members/patients alike. With Elligint Health, the future of healthcare is simpler, smarter, and more effective.

About HealthEC

HealthEC, a Best in KLAS provider of population health management solutions (2019 & 2022), empowers healthcare organizations to achieve their goals through a single-platform solution. By leveraging connectivity and interoperability, HealthEC enables data-driven collaboration between payers and providers, streamlining care coordination and translating insights into actionable strategies to improve quality metrics and close care gaps. Learn more at healthec.com and on LinkedIn.

About VirtualHealth

VirtualHealth empowers healthcare organizations to deliver exceptional value-based care through HELIOS, its industry-leading medical management platform. Trusted by top healthcare organizations, HELIOS supports care management, utilization management, and population health with AI-driven automation, FHIR interoperability, and unmatched configurability. VirtualHealth’s solutions streamline operations, reduce costs, and drive productivity while ensuring compliance. Learn more at virtualhealth.com.

Originally announced January 9th, 2025

< + > HIMSS 2025 Preview

If it felt like we just attended a massive health IT conferece and now we’re about to attend another one, then you’d be right.  We attende a lot of healthcare IT conferences every year, but there’s nothing quite like the nearly back to back conferences of ViVE and HIMSS.  ViVE 2025 is now in the rear view mirror and next week we’ll be attending the HMSS conference where we’ll do our best to bring you some of the best health IT content from the event.  We’ll be sharing a number of short videos on LinkedIn from the event, so be sure to follow me and Healthcare IT Today on LinkedIn to get the latest updates.  We’ll also be sharing them in articles on Healthcare IT Today in case you miss them.

Along with the videos we’re doing at the conference, we wanted to point you to a number of other places you’ll find us at the event along with some areas, sessions, and parties that we’re interested in at the event.  Check out our list:

Pre-Conference #HITsm, #pinksocks, Swaay.Health Meetup – Gilley’s inside Treasure Island – 7:00 PM After Opening Reception
It’s been tradition for the #HITsm, #pinksocks, and Swaay.Health community to meet up somewhere after the Opening Reception of HIMSS.  If you want to meet up with the community before the exhibit hall opens, join us Monday night at about 7 PM at Gilley’s.  This is just a casual meetup of the community, so drinks will be on your own.  However, there’s bound to be a great mix of people and a fun time together.

Healthcare IT Today Booth – #232 – Exhibit Hall Hours
Be sure to come by and say hi to Colin Hung, Brittany Quemby, Lea Chatham, myself, and the rest of the Healthcare IT Today crew.  We’ll have mutliple video studios set up in the space so you can watch some our interviews live or get a selfie with Colin or Brittany (we know how valuable those are).

Interoperability and HIE Forum Keynote – Brendan Keeler (separate registration required) – Venetian | Level 3 | Lido 3101, Mon 3/3 8:30-9:00 AM
They couldn’t have made a better choice for the keynote, Brendan Keeler, for the Interoperability and HIE Pre-conference forum.  The only question is why is it only 30 minutes and not an hour.  I’m excited to see what knowledge Brendan drops and also what kind of meme game he brings to it as well.

Executive Summit (separate registration required) – Caesar’s Forum 119 – Golf and Reception Sunday/All Day Monday
For those not familiar with the Executive Summit, it’s what replaced the CHIME Spring Forum that always happened the day before HIMSS.  After COVID, CHIME created ViVE with HLTH, but HIMSS continued to hold the event for executives the day before the main HIMSS conference.  I missed last years because of scheduling, but I’ve heard good things about it.  I’m excited to check it out this year and see how HIMSS has done with the Executive Summit.

From Data to Decisions: Advancing Healthcare with Smart Analytics and Intelligent Interoperability – MEDITECH Booth #972 – Tues 3/14 at 12:15-12:35 PM
Always nice when there’s an interoperability session that’s focused on actually sharing data and what that means for an organization.  I think that’s what this session will deliver as MEDITECH shares how they’re helping their healthcare organizations get access to the data they need to better care for patients.

#HITsm and Swaay.Health Meetup and Picture
The number one question we get before a health IT conference is – Where are the #HITsm and Swaay.Health communities planning to meet up?  We’re planning to do our annual HIMSS picture with the #HITsm and Swaay.Health comunities on Tuesday 3/4 at 1:15 PM PT We’ll meet at the lobby of the exhibit hall by the HIMSS sign (we think the HIMSS sign will be there like usual). The plan is to meet there at 1:15 to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.  Then, at 1:30 we’ll take a community picture with everyone that’s there.  We hope you can join us.

Transforming Hospital Operations with Innovation and AI – Dell Technologies Booth #2560 – Wed 3/5 10:30-11:15 AM
We’ve been doing these meetups with Dell Technologies for so many years at HIMSS and are second year partnering with AMD on these as well.  They’re always a lively discussion with some of the smartest and most interesting people in the industry.  Stop by and become part of the discussion.  We have some amazing CIOs and industry experts that are going to be talking about what will be the hottest topic at HIMSS: Innovation and AI.  More details>>

Preparing your organization to harness the potential of AI – Brunch Briefing (Registration Required) – Wed 3/5 10:30-11:45 AM
Colin will be covering this brunch briefing to learn from an expert from MIT and Notable.  Watch for his live sharing from the session to learn about harnessing the potential of AI.

AI Strategy: The Critical Role of Data Integrity and Validity – Venetian | Level 2 | Venetian F – Wed 3/5 3:15-4:15 PM
We all know that AI is only as good as the data that powers it.  This session has an incredible speaker, Sonya Makhni from Mayo and a man who needs no itntroduction, Zafar Chaudry, CIO at Seattle Children’s, that will be sharing the importance of data integrity and validity in your AI strategy.  I’m told that Ajay Kapare from ELLKAY will be moderating the discussion, so you know it will be a good one.

Various Focus Areas
Seems like this year there are a number of different focus areas worth checking out.  The AI Pavillion is next to our booth, so I’m sure I’ll see how it’s doing. The Emerge Innovation Experience sounds interesting and is being keynoted by Robert Herjavec from Shark Tank.  The Cybersecurity area is always hopping with healthcare being hackers favorite target.  I believe the Interoperability area is under new leadership and so I’m interested to see what they’ve changed there.  And my colleague Brittany would be mad if I didn’t mention her need for a visit to the Puppy Park.

#HIMSS25 Hashtag
Do hashtags matter at events now?  It used to be a really big deal to follow the hashtag at an event.  You could almost be in a session without actually being there since people shared on the hashtag so much.  Is that true now?  Looks like the official hashtag is following their previous approach and will be #HIMSS25  Be sure to follow that for much of the content we share.

This list could be much longer, but hopefully this gives you an idea of where we’ll be at HIMSS 2025 and some of the things we’ll be looking forward to seeing.  What’s on your list?  Let us know on social media of any sessions, parties, events, etc that we should consider adding to our crazy schedule at HIMSS.

< + > SimonMed Imaging uses AI to greatly improve full-body MRIs

Artificial intelligence reduced scan times, sometimes by 30-50%. Diagnostic accuracy improved. And the chances of missed diagnoses were reduced, improving patient outcomes.

< + > SingHealth doubles down on AI integration

The health cluster will work with Philips on three digital health projects over the next three years.

< + > Lack of AI governance poses threat to data security, new HIMSS research shows

Budget bumps have led to better security tools, but the growing use of artificial intelligence requires more focus and investments from organizations. HIMSS25 attendees can learn more at the preconference Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum.

< + > Sheba Medical Center is using its data in new ways – and getting big wins

Its Adams Data Center platform has reduced time to insights, improved patient outcomes and enhanced operational efficiency. The right tech, empowered users and a commitment to improvement leads to success, says the data center director.

< + > HIMSS25: Enhancing trauma care automated data analysis tool development

Aubrey May Agcon, clinical research nurse at NY Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, joined MobiHealthNews to discuss her HIMSS25 talk on how appropriate triage influences patient outcomes and resource utilization.  

< + > Hippocratic AI Completes $141MM Series B Financing Round Led by Kleiner Perkins, Valuing the Company at $1.64B

Strong Customer Traction, Positive Patient Response, a Recently Granted Patent, and Achieving Clinical Safety Drive Company Expansion

Hippocratic AI, the company that pioneered the first healthcare LLM for patient-facing non-diagnostic clinical tasks, today announced that the company completed its series B financing round only nine months after its series A. The series B raised $141MM, valuing the company at $1.64B. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins, the venerated VC firm that backed Google, Amazon, and Genentech. Kleiner was joined by existing investors: A16z, General Catalyst, Premji, NVIDIA, SV Angel, Universal Health Services (UHS), and WellSpan Health, which all participated at or above pro-rata.

The company took the opportunity to take on additional capital to further its mission to provide healthcare abundance and improve patient outcomes in the world through its safety-focused Polaris constellation LLM architecture. The new capital will be used to expand the company to more verticals (pharma, payors) and new markets (EMEA, Southeast Asia, Latam).

“The last nine months have been a very productive period at the company. We raised our Series A with the support of Premji and NVIDIA; released our Polaris 2.0 architecture; expanded our nurse, physician, and industry advisory councils; received our first US patent; achieved safety parity of our AI agents with human clinicians; signed contracts with 23 health systems, payors, and pharma clients in just 23 weeks; launched 16 of those clients; and received a positive reception from patients,” said Munjal Shah, Co-Founder and CEO at Hippocratic AI. “This round of financing will accelerate the development and deployment of the Hippocratic GenAI-driven super staffing and continue our quest to make healthcare abundance a reality.”

In the last few months, the company has gone live with Arkos Health, Belong Health, Cincinnati Children’s, Fraser Health (Canada), GuideHealth, Honor Health, Ideal Dental, Nsight Health, OhioHealth, VNS Health, UHS, WellSpan Health, and more. Hippocratic AI GenAI agents have completed hundreds of thousands of calls to patients of these healthcare organizations. Patient response has been outstanding, giving their GenAI agent interactions an average rating of 8.7 out of 10.

“While we had been tracking Hippocratic AI because of its focus on safety and unique constellation LLM architecture, the company’s incredible commercial traction is a clear signal that they are winning a new category,” said Mamoon Hamid, Partner at Kleiner Perkins. “The total addressable market of using generative AI for solving healthcare staffing shortages is probably 10 times the size of the healthcare software market alone, and we’re excited to support the Hippocratic AI team on their journey.”

From the founding of the company, Hippocratic AI has always believed that building a safe and effective LLM requires close collaboration with healthcare organizations. Hence, the company partnered with founding health systems such as UHS, Honor Health, WellSpan Health, Cincinnati Children’s, OhioHealth, and Memorial Hermann and agreed not to launch until the product was as safe as a human nurse. This milestone was finally achieved earlier this year with the launch of its Polaris 2.0 product which increased the number of parameters (intelligence) of the model from 1.1 trillion parameters to 3.7 trillion parameters.

Today, the company is also announcing the launch of its AI Agent App Store where licensed clinicians can collaborate with Hippocratic AI to design and shape AI agents based on use cases they develop and earn revenue from their use by customers.

About Hippocratic AI

Hippocratic AI has developed a safety-focused Large Language Model (LLM) for healthcare. The company believes that a safe LLM can dramatically improve healthcare accessibility and health outcomes in the world by bringing deep healthcare expertise to every human. No other technology has the potential to have this level of global impact on health. The company was co-founded by CEO Munjal Shah, alongside a group of physicians, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, and artificial intelligence researchers from El Camino Health, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Microsoft, Google, and NVIDIA. Hippocratic AI has received a total of $278 million in funding and is backed by leading investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, NVIDIA’s NVentures, Premji Invest, SV Angel, and six health systems. For more information on Hippocratic AI, visit hippocraticai.com.

Originally announced January 9th, 2025

< + > Thailand's first int'l private hospital goes 'all the way' with EMR

Dr Apichai Chaiyaroj, assistant director of BNH Hospital, shares how they had all doctors entering inpatient and outpatient records electronically.

< + > Oracle Health files QHIN application

Three months after announcing its intention to become a qualified health information network under TEFCA, the company is now taking official steps to participate in the nationwide healthcare interoperability framework.

< + > Manas AI Launches to Transform Discovery of Novel Cancer Medicines

Cofounded by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee and Reid Hoffman, Manas AI Leverages Proprietary AI, Generative Computational Chemistry, and Best-in-Class Biology to Cut Drug Development Timelines and Costs, Transforming Cancer and Rare Disease Treatments

Company Raises $24.6 Million Seed Round, Co-Led by General Catalyst and Reid Hoffman with Participation from Greylock, and Establishes Partnership with Microsoft

Manas AI, a full-stack, AI-driven company focused on discovering and advancing next-generation medicines, launched today. By leveraging its proprietary AI-driven platform, its partnership with Microsoft, and a world-class team of scientists across diverse disciplines, Manas AI is uniquely positioned to disrupt the traditional model of therapeutic discovery. The company aims to significantly accelerate the process of screening, identifying, and advancing transformative medicines for cancer, autoimmune disease, and rare conditions – including some previously considered unreachable.

Co-founded by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a pioneering oncologist, researcher, and author, and Reid Hoffman, renowned entrepreneur and investor, Manas AI integrates generative computational chemistry, advanced molecular docking, and cutting-edge biology to create a full-stack therapeutic development pipeline – from target identification to clinical trials. Manas will use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Microsoft Azure, as well as Microsoft’s deep domain knowledge in AI to develop novel medicines.

“Our mission is simple yet profound: to transform how we discover and develop life-saving medicines. Through the power of AI and our world-class team, we believe we can drastically reduce the time and cost it takes to bring game-changing new treatments to patients. I am particularly excited about the novel models for generative chemistry that Manas is developing. If these generative models work, we aspire to replace conventional experimental methods to create medicines,” said Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, Co-Founder of Manas AI.

Disrupting Medical Discovery with AI and Compute Power

Manas AI’s proprietary approach builds on several distinctive foundations:

• Proprietary AI Filters and Libraries: Manas AI generates bespoke chemical libraries and utilizes advanced AI filters to identify high-potential therapeutic candidates with paradigm-shifting speed and accuracy

• Massive Scale Compute: Through the Microsoft collaboration, Manas AI will build on top of the Azure cloud computing infrastructure, enabling molecular docking at speeds 100x faster than traditional systems

• Project Cosmos: The company’s ambitious AI-driven initiative aims to map the fundamental “rules” of drug binding, further accelerating the discovery of novel chemical entities

“Amidst all the hype in AI-powered drug discovery today, Manas AI is poised to make truly practical, game-changing advances,” said Peter Lee from Microsoft. “It’s especially exciting to integrate world-class AI capabilities with groundbreaking chemistry, biology, and wet-lab expertise as we aim to reshape the future of medicine. Microsoft is proud to partner with Manas to help realize this critically important mission.”

A Global Vision for Impact

With an initial focus on oncology, Manas AI is developing treatments for aggressive cancers such as triple-negative breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma. Eventually, the company also intends to target other important global diseases

A World-Class Team Leading a New Era of Medical Discovery

Manas AI has brought together a world-class, interdisciplinary team of leaders in the discovery of novel medicines – spanning AI, computational chemistry, biology, and clinical research. The team includes five members of the National Academy of Sciences, four members of the National Academy of Medicine, and two recipients of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. The Manas team features an unprecedented assembly of globally significant, influential contributors to scientific and medical innovation, including:

• Dr. Lew Cantley (Harvard University), discoverer of PI3K and PTEN, scientific founder of Agios Pharma

• Dr. Gary Gilliland (Fred Hutch), former Global Oncology Franchise Head, Merck & Co., groundbreaking researcher on the genetic underpinnings of cancer

• Dr. William Jorgensen (Yale University), world-leading innovator in computational chemistry whose contributions have transformed molecular simulation and drug design

• Dr. Peter Kim (Stanford University), pioneering biochemist and former President of Merck Research Laboratories, where he oversaw approval of over 20 new medicines

• Dr. Craig Mello (UMass Chan Medical School) co-discoverer of RNA interference and 2006 Nobel Laureate in Medicine, scientific co-founder of CRISPR tx, Atalanta tx, and several other RNA-focused biotechnology companies

• Dr. Matthew Shair (Harvard University), world leading organic chemist, small molecule therapeutics expert and scientific founder of Nuvalent

• Dr. David Spiegel (Yale University), chemical biologist renowned for his contributions in antibody-recruiting molecules and synthetic antibody mimics for therapeutic applications

“Our interdisciplinary team is uniquely equipped to tackle the most complex challenges in drug discovery,” said Dr. Mukherjee. “By combining expertise in AI and biology with best-in-class preclinical models, we can accelerate the process of discovering life-saving medicines that were once out of reach.”

Backed by Leading Investors

Manas AI has raised $24.6 million in funding to accelerate its groundbreaking AI-driven drug discovery programs. The company’s financing was led by General Catalyst with participation from Greylock and other strategic investors in life sciences and technology. The capital will be used to scale its proprietary AI platform, advance its pipeline of drug candidates, and expand its global clinical programs.

“As a former CEO in the biopharma industry, I’m very familiar with the challenges of the highly complex and resource-intensive therapeutic discovery model”, said Ken Frazier, Chairman, Health Assurance Initiatives at General Catalyst, and former Chairman and CEO at Merck. “Manas AI has the potential to compress the timeline to discovery of effective drug candidates while increasing the likelihood of success in clinical trials. This is a unique opportunity to dramatically change the drug discovery landscape and make a positive impact on billions of people around the world.”

“AI will have a lasting and positive impact on humanity, and for years I have been focused on helping realize the potential of this technology. It’s my honor to partner with Sid to build a company focused on using AI to transform drug discovery,” said Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder and Investor in Manas. “Manas AI is breaking down barriers that have slowed medical innovation for decades, which will lead to exponential positive impact in our ability to treat human disease.”

About Manas AI

Manas AI is a full-stack, AI-driven drug discovery company. By harnessing the power of proprietary AI models and leveraging extensive computational infrastructure, the company aims to dramatically reduce drug discovery timelines. Co-founded by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee and Reid Hoffman, and a world-class interdisciplinary team that spans AI, computational chemistry, biology, and clinical research, Manas AI is on a mission to bring life-saving treatments to patients faster than ever before. Visit manasai.co for more information.

Originally announced January 27th, 2025

< + > H1 Welcomes Former FDA Commissioner to Board of Directors, Acquires Ribbon Health, and Unveils 2025 Product Roadmap

Doubles-Down on its Commitment to Connecting the World with the Right Doctors and Advancing Healthcare Innovation and Inclusion

H1, on a mission to connect the world with the right doctors, today announced several key milestones: H1 is strengthening its leadership team with the appointment of former FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. Hahn to its board; announcing the strategic acquisition of Ribbon Health; and unveiling a series of innovative products.

“H1 continues to live its mission by connecting the world with the right doctors,” said Ariel Katz, Co-Founder and CEO at H1. “By adding Dr. Hahn, with his deep expertise and impressive credentials, to our leadership team and expanding our portfolio through the development of new products and the acquisition of Ribbon Health, we’re confident we have everything in place to accomplish that mission.”

Former FDA Commissioner Joins H1 Board of Directors

As part of its continued growth, H1 has welcomed Dr. Stephen Hahn to its Board of Directors. Dr. Hahn is a distinguished physician, scientist, and healthcare leader with expertise in oncology, clinical research, and executive leadership.

As FDA Commissioner from 2019-2021 under the Trump administration, Dr. Hahn oversaw regulatory affairs for COVID-19 and non-COVID-related areas, including therapeutics, vaccine development, medical devices, diagnostics, and clinical trials. He currently serves as CEO at Harbinger Health, where he spearheads early-stage cancer detection. With over 220 published research articles, Dr. Hahn brings deep experience across patient care, clinical trials, and medical product development.

“I’m excited to join H1’s board at such a pivotal time in healthcare innovation,” said Dr. Hahn. “H1’s commitment to leveraging data and technology to improve healthcare access and outcomes aligns with my lifelong passion for advancing care and clinical research. I look forward to lending my skills to help H1 progress its mission.”

H1 Acquires Leading Health Plan Provider Data Platform, Ribbon Health

H1 entered a definitive agreement to acquire Ribbon Health on December 12th, 2024. Backed by notable investors including General Catalyst, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), BoxGroup, Rock Health, and Sachin Jain, Ribbon’s platform facilitates how patients find the right doctor across digital health and insurance platforms.

“From the moment Ariel and I first met, it was clear that Ribbon and H1 were destined to collaborate. Our platforms—and our visions—mesh perfectly,” said Nate Maslak, Co-Founder and CEO at Ribbon Health. “By combining our comprehensive provider data and provider data management software with H1’s clinical insights and global reach, we’re giving individuals the information they need to get the best possible care.”

This acquisition further advances H1’s mission by fueling its expansion into the health plan, provider system, and digital health sectors. Ribbon Health’s platform will join the H1 family of products as H1 for Health Plans & Digital Health, providing insurers, providers, and digital health companies alike with accurate, real-time provider data.

H1 Unveils Streamlined Product Vision

Alongside H1 for Health Plans & Digital Health, H1 is unveiling a refined product vision to address the evolving needs of its customers and the market—all powered by its award-winning, AI-driven data and analytics platform:

• H1 for Medical helps medical affairs teams identify and engage Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to promote adherence to evidence-based medicine
• H1 for Clinical supports clinical teams in identifying sites, principal investigators (PIs), and participants while advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the trial process
• H1 for Commercial accelerates patient access by facilitating the development and successful launch of new medical therapies and technologies

While designed for stand-alone use, together these solutions create a seamless system that streamlines processes and improves diversity across the entire pharmaceutical lifecycle.

For more information on H1’s solutions, please visit h1.co.

About H1

H1 continues to build towards its mission of connecting the world to the right doctors. Powered by a robust data platform, H1’s solutions leverage advanced analytics and AI to deliver meaningful insights to over 200 customers, driving inclusive clinical research, improving patient outcomes, and supporting a healthier, more equitable future.

H1 has earned significant recognition for its achievements, including being named one of Forbes’ Best Startup Employers, being listed in the 2024 New York Digital Health 100, and receiving the 2024 Fierce Award for Excellence in Data-Driven Diversity Practices. The company is backed by prominent investors including Altimeter, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Flex Capital, and is ranked among Y Combinator’s Top Private Companies. Learn more at h1.co.

Originally announced January 8th, 2025

< + > Chinese health players begin integrating DeepSek

A close competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT is now being used at South China Hospital. 

< + > Bonus Features – February 23, 2025 – 44% of orgs experienced a cyberattack involving a third-party vendor in the last year, 20% of patients prefer AI to phone calls if it results in faster service, plus 25 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

• CMS is seeking feedback on the upcoming electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) update that will go into effect in 2026. The agency has published guidance for both reading and implementing eCQMs. Comments are due March 3.

Studies

• In the last 12 months, 44% of healthcare organizations experienced a data breach or cyberattack involving a third-party vendor, according to an Imprivata report.
• Compared to 2024, more healthcare financial professionals expect their margins to increase in 2025 (36%) than those who expect margins to decrease (14%), according to the latest data from Strata Decision Technology.
• About 20% patients would prefer using AI to speaking to a human by phone for routine tasks if it would result in faster service, according to a RevSpring survey.
• A global survey from UserTesting found only 30% of patients are regular users of telehealth. Interestingly, older patients were more likely to say they planned to increase their telehealth use.
• Behavior change programs are the most important employee benefits for preventing and managing chronic conditions, according to a Wondr Health survey.

Partnerships

• Smartphone-enabled blood pressure reading technology from Lifelight is now integrated with NowPatient, a virtual care platform.
• Wolters Kluwer Health has integrated UpToDate into Corti, an AI assistant.
• Intellectual and developmental disabilities care software provider CentralReach announced an exclusive partnership with AI.Measures, which provides assessments for child mental health.
• The Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs chose Relias to provide workforce training and resources for state public health leaders.
• Prior authorization technology vendor careviso announced a strategic alliance with XiFin, an RCM vendor.

Products

• Talkdesk updated the Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud, which can now be embedded in Epic’s Cheers CRM suite. In addition, a Talkdesk report found 62% of healthcare contact center leaders said agents spend too much time looking for information.
• Lumeris introduced Tom, an AI tool that augments primary care workflows by automating tasks such as scheduling appointments and conducting post-discharge outreach.
• CharmHealth launched CharmHealthHub, a marketplace for connecting digital health vendors, providers, and investors.
• Availity launched Rapid Recovery, a framework for restoring operations after a cyberattack or other catastrophic event.
• Data platform Arcadia announced Network Modeler and Contract IQ, which help healthcare organizations evaluate networks and forecast value-based contracts, respectively.
• iPrescribe by DrFirst launched Connect, which lets providers make secure, private calls on their personal devices.
• WellSky launched WellSky Resource Manager, a patient scheduling and workforce management product for home care organizations.
• Veradigm launched a disease-specific cardiometabolic Clinical Data Registry, bringing together data from more than 80 EHR systems.

Sales

• UNC Health chose ShiftMed to help match available clinicians with open shifts and reduce the reliance on contract labor.
• Cleveland Clinic chose Ambience for AI documentation and point-of-care coding.
• Louisiana-based St. Tammany Health System chose Inflo Health to improve follow-ups after radiology visits.
• Florida-based Elite DNA Behavioral Health chose NextGen Healthcare for EHR and practice management software.

Company News

• Physician-owned cardiology group Atria Health launched its model nationally.
• Substance use disorder care provider Holon Health expanded operations to Virginia.

People

• Capacity management vendor LeanTaaS promoted Tim Vasil to Chief Technology Officer.
• Data intelligence platform Evidently hired Dr. Kai Romero as Head of Clinical Success.

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.

< + > Weekly Roundup – February 22, 2025

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.

The Path to Auto-Generated Dynamic Notes in Chaotic Medical Settings. John Lynn talked to iScribeHealth’s Pat Williams about providing AI-powered scribes that meet the needs ofthe ambulatory care setting – and why the company doesn’t have a desktop application. Read more…

Scaling Complex Call Center Interactions. At peak times, providers can miss up to 40% of incoming phone calls, John learned in a conversation with Ada Andruszkiewicz at Talkie.ai. Deploying LLMs integrated with EHRs helps alleviate this pressure by scheduling appointments or renewing prescriptions. Read more…

How to Get Patient-Centered Mobile Imaging Done. Colin Hung connected with Joshua Seyler at Akumin to chat about the benefits of mobile units for imaging and radiation therapy, especially in geographic areas where trained radiologists are in short supply. Read more…

Insights and Perspectives from ViVE 2025: Day 3. Hear lots of thoughts about the role of AI in clinical care and the back office, along with research from Imprivata on the security risks of third-party access. Read more…

Insights and Perspectives from ViVE 2025: Day 2. Get the lowdown on the 2024 CAQH Index Report, research from CCS on the rise of diabetes, and various success stories of vendor-provider partnerships. Read more…

Insights and Perspectives from ViVE 2025: Day 1. Learn about Talkdesk’s partnership with Epic, Verily’s new digital health platform, and expert opinions about the future of AI in healthcare. Read more…

Healthcare IT Today Podcast: What Topics Need to Be Put on Ice? John and Colin discussed the regulations, healthcare habits, technologies, and buzzwords that aren’t worthy of our attention today. (They promise the theme had nothing to do with the weather in Nashville.) Read more…

Fixing the Hidden Flaws in Healthcare Data Deidentification. The availability of patient and consumer data online limits the privacy protection of data deidentification, noted Dr. Michael Blum at BeeKeeperAI. Combining federated learning with confidential computing can resolve this challenge. Read more…

Can 2025 Finally Deliver Seamless Data Exchange? Ryan Sullivan at Oystehr described how maturing standards, AI-powered data integrations, and regulatory pressures are driving organizations to prioritize interoperability. Collaboration throughout the industry remains essential, too. Read more…

This Week’s Health IT Jobs for February 19, 2025: Several roles seeking Epic experience, plus multiple systems analyst positions. Read more…

Bonus Features, ViVE Edition, for February 18, 2025: CancerX launches latest Accelerator, Innovaccer unveils new AI agents, and 16 more stories of interest. Read more…

Bonus Features for February 16, 2025: While 66% of physicians currently use AI in their practice, 69% of data abstractors concerned about quality of AI-generated data. Read more…

Funding and M&A Activity:

• Preventive health scanning technology company Neko Health raised $260 million in Series B funding.
• Care automation software company Qventus announced $105 million in Series D funding.
• Behavioral health AI vendor Eleos raised $60 million in Series C funding.
• Generative AI infrastructure vendor Qualified Health launched with $30 million in Seed funding.
• Maternal health platform Delfina Care raised $17 million in Series A funding.
• Women’s heart health vendor Systole Health launched with $2 million in Pre-Seed funding.
• Rehab therapy EHR vendor Raintree Systems acquired Yoomi Health, which builds AI tools for rehab therapy.
• Inventory management and procurement company Bluesight acquired Protenus, a compliance analytics platform.
• Monitoring and alarm management vendor AirStrip Technologies acquired DECISIO Health, a clinical decision support vendor.

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

< + > Texting the CEO proves wildly popular at Banner Health

The digital patient engagement program went from a one-hospital pilot to 125 locations in no time. A top digital leader discusses the project and her HIMSS25 session on the success.

< + > HIMSSCast: Fundamentals of data governance - lessons from UNC Health, part 1

The first in a three-part series examining the health system's efforts to make the most of its data. Greg Kuhnen, system director for analytical solutions, offers his perspective – and explains how HIMSS Analytics maturity models are helping.

< + > Raintree Systems Acquires Rehab Therapy AI Technology Leader Yoomi Health

Raintree Acquires Yoomi Health, Expanding AI Center of Excellence and Accelerating Roadmap to Become the Leading AI-Centric EMR in Rehab Therapy

Raintree announced today that it has acquired Yoomi Health, a New York-based leader in AI technologies for rehab therapy organizations. This critical addition to Raintree’s product stack will significantly accelerate the Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning roadmap for Raintree clients. In addition to a series of strategic investments made over the past two years, the Yoomi acquisition furthers Raintree’s commitment to become the leading AI-centric EMR in rehab therapy.

The Yoomi acquisition paves the way for accelerated delivery of AI products that change the paradigm of how rehab therapy EHRs inherently function. Having recently completed an overhaul of its data infrastructure to be optimized for AI applications, Raintree now welcomes the Yoomi team to its rapidly growing AI Center of Excellence to deliver products designed to transform outcomes for practices and patients.

“We are investing heavily to ensure that Raintree leads the EMR field when it comes to therapy-specific AI tools,” explained Nick Hedges, Raintree CEO. “We are very excited to welcome the Yoomi team to Raintree as our extensive research suggests they are a step ahead of their competitors in terms of the sophistication of their approach.”

“We strongly believe the most critical technology advances defining the future will be based on AI,” said Ben Catania, CEO at Yoomi. “Raintree’s shared vision that AI will free clinicians, patients, and billing teams from the need to perform manual tasks within traditional software makes them the perfect partner. With Yoomi and Raintree working together to deliver an all-inclusive native EHR AI solution, we will reduce the cost per activity for rehab therapy practices.”

“We understand how important it is for clients to have choices when it comes to the current ‘scribe-based’ technologies that are on the market today, and we intend to continue to keep these partnerships active,” explained Sarina Richard, Raintree’s Chief Strategy Officer. “However, we also believe that deeply embedding sophisticated AI-driven workflows within our platform provides enhanced functionalities that are simply not possible via a standalone AI vendor integration.”

With its acquisition of Yoomi Health and investment in platform transformation, Raintree is not only addressing the industry-wide challenges facing rehab therapy practices today—including declining reimbursements and staff attrition—but investing in a future where AI-centric technology continually adapts to support its clients’ success.

About Raintree Systems 

Raintree is the preeminent platform for enterprise and large-sized therapy provider organizations. With a proven track record of success and client satisfaction, Raintree provides solutions in patient engagement and communications, clinical documentation, revenue cycle management (RCM), and business intelligence/analytics for adult and pediatric physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and multidisciplinary practices across all treatment settings. Raintree leads the industry in compliance and security, offering the first ONC-certified EHR designed specifically for rehabilitation therapy.

Originally announced January 24th, 2025

< + > Bluesight Announces Acquisition of Protenus to Advance Healthcare Compliance and Risk Mitigation

Bluesight, the leading provider of inventory management, procurement, and compliance solutions for health systems and hospital pharmacies, today announced the acquisition of Protenus, provider of the leading healthcare compliance analytics platform. This strategic acquisition will further strengthen Bluesight’s drug diversion platform and add critical patient privacy monitoring capabilities to better protect healthcare organizations and the communities they serve.

Protenus leverages artificial intelligence capabilities to provide healthcare organizations with scalable risk-reduction solutions that drive the safest, highest-quality patient outcomes while protecting their organizations’ reputations. Since its founding in 2014, Protenus has grown into a category leader with strong, trusted relationships with hundreds of healthcare organizations across the United States, supporting them as they navigate and overcome significant operational and reputational risks. This combination will bring together Bluesight’s intelligence that powers hospital and pharmacy operations, and Protenus’ expertise in compliance & risk management, offering a unified platform delivering innovative solutions needed to enhance compliance, ensure medication safety, and drive operational efficiency.

“Protenus is at the forefront of healthcare compliance AI & analytics, addressing the critical need for compliance technology that helps healthcare organizations meet and exceed the highest quality of care and safety standards,” said Kevin MacDonald, Co-Founder and CEO at Bluesight. “We have long admired their products, expertise, and team, and this acquisition is a transformational step in Bluesight’s journey to expand our compliance capabilities. By combining our strengths, we will be able to offer a truly comprehensive solution that addresses some of the most pressing healthcare challenges today and deliver even greater value to our customers.”

“We are thrilled to join the Bluesight platform, which will help accelerate our mission of empowering healthcare organizations with the necessary tools to protect their patients and safeguard their own reputations,” said Nick Culbertson, Co-Founder and CEO at Protenus. “Partnering with Bluesight will enhance our capacity to innovate and address our customers’ evolving needs, and allow us to further capitalize on the growing demand for our compliance capabilities. Together, we will create a platform that not only mitigates risks but also establishes new standards for excellence in healthcare compliance and beyond.”

Baird served as financial advisor to Protenus. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel for Thoma Bravo & Bluesight and DLA Piper LLP served as legal counsel for Protenus.

About Bluesight

Bluesight powers hospital and pharmacy operations with intelligence that simplifies inventory management, procurement, and compliance. Through its suite of industry-leading solutions, Bluesight ensures that health systems protect every patient and optimize every dollar. Over 2,400 United States and Canadian hospitals rely on Bluesight every day to have efficient and safe operations. For more information, please visit Bluesight’s website.

About Protenus

Protenus harnesses the power of AI to provide healthcare organizations with scalable risk-reduction solutions that drive the safest patient outcomes while protecting the reputation of the organizations. Protenus is committed to innovation, determined to reduce risk, and focused on supporting our community of employees, customers, and ultimately, patients. Empowering healthcare to eliminate risk is at the heart of all we do.

Originally announced January 9th, 2025

< + > Korea University Medical Center pursues brain, heart AI development and more briefs

Also, IIT Madras recently launched a cancer genome database.

< + > Australia infuses $85M in digital mental health and more briefs

Also, The Alfred Hospital implemented a new surgical system for minimally invasive procedures.

< + > Qventus Announces $105 Million Investment, Series D Led by KKR

The Company is a Leading AI Solutions Provider Across Inpatient and Outpatient Operations, Continuing to Drive Millions of Dollars in ROI for Health Systems Partners for Over a Decade

The Investment Supports Development and Expansion of First-to-Market AI Operational Assistants, Extending the Platform even Further Across Clinical Operations

Qventus, a leading provider of AI-based care automation software for health systems, today announced a $105 million investment led by global investment firm KKR, with additional participation from world-renowned investment firm Bessemer Venture Partners, and new strategic investors, including leading health systems Northwestern Medicine, HonorHealth, and Allina Health.

Qventus has built an AI-first care operations automation platform deployed across leading health systems in inpatient and outpatient settings. This funding accelerates the Company’s ability to provide AI-based automations and AI operational assistants in more care settings, building upon the success of its existing offerings like Qventus’ Surgical Growth and Inpatient Capacity solutions as well as new solutions built on its first-to-market AI Operational Assistants platform capability.

Hospital executives, providers, and frontline staff are overburdened by manual, fragmented, and antiquated processes, which create challenges to achieving their mission of providing excellent care to patients in their communities. Despite having top-of-the-line therapies, clinicians, and equipment, healthcare systems are hindered by inefficiencies related to administrative tasks like scheduling, higher costs, and more, which collectively cost the healthcare system billions of dollars every year. In turn, reducing staff burnout from administrative tasks and enhancing productivity have become mission-critical for health systems. Qventus’ transformative solutions and AI teammates help health systems combat these challenges by intelligently automating operations and end-to-end workflows across care settings.

“Across the country, healthcare teams have to do extraordinary things to get ordinary things done every single day. Qventus has dedicated the last decade to building AI automation solutions that alleviate the administrative burden of healthcare staff so they can deliver highly reliable patient care. This funding is a testament to how these solutions generate best-in-industry return on investment, helping health systems achieve the margins needed to fulfill their mission of delivering exceptional care to their communities,” said Mudit Garg, Co-Founder and CEO at Qventus. “This capital primes us to continue maximizing our growth, delivering on our promises to our partners, and launching new, game-changing technology.”

Qventus will leverage this funding to accelerate the development and commercialization of solutions powered by its AI Operational Assistants into new care settings beyond its Surgical Growth and Inpatient Capacity solutions. Enhancing team productivity by up to 50 percent, these AI teammates work alongside care teams to reduce the administrative burden, identify potential issues upstream, surface suggested interventions, and take action to solve problems for busy staff.

“Built on a solid foundation, Qventus has navigated the evolving care landscape and emerged resilient, thanks to its sophisticated technology and proprietary data engine built over the last decade,” said Jake Heller, Partner and Head of Tech Growth Equity, Americas at KKR. “We believe Qventus is well-positioned to be a market leader in supporting care delivery at the provider level and redefining the future of health care by supporting hospital systems in operating more efficiently so they can focus on what really matters–quality care for patients.”

Since its inception in 2012, Qventus has built a suite of AI solutions to address health system pain points across care settings. In the last year alone, Qventus’ Inpatient Capacity solution, which reduces the length of stay and creates capacity, eliminated over 36,000 excess days for its health system partners, saving them millions of dollars and helping them create the capacity to serve more patients in their communities. The company’s Surgical Growth solution drives strategic surgical volume for hospitals, generating $95M in annualized contribution margin in 2024 through Qventus-enabled cases. This year alone, Qventus’ platform touched more than half a million surgeries and drove 35% more robotic cases using its technology to spot gaps of time available, helping patients receive the critical care they need.

“By collaborating with Qventus, Northwestern Medicine has been able to significantly address capacity and access demands for our operating rooms which has allowed our patients quicker access to care,” said Doug King, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Northwestern Medicine. “By deploying Qventus’ solutions, Northwestern Medicine is able to reduce the burden on our clinical teams and allow them to turn their focus to caring for our patients.”

This financing follows a year of significant growth for Qventus, increasing its cadre of health system partners and expanding its team globally. The company received an impressive overall KLAS score of 92.5 percent (as of November 1, 2024) in the capacity management segment, in which 100 percent of customers included Qventus as a part of their long-term plans. Last month, Qventus additionally took home Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Customer Value Leadership Award for its commitment to providing best-in-class solutions that generate an average of over 10x return on investment for its hospital and health system clients.

KKR is funding this investment primarily from its Next Generation Technology III Fund.

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. served as legal advisor to Qventus, Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to KKR and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati served as legal advisor to Bessemer Venture Partners.

About Qventus

For more than a decade, Qventus has been at the forefront as a provider of AI-based software automating care operations in both OR and inpatient settings. By deeply understanding the challenges faced by healthcare providers and applying modern technologies and principles proven in other industries, we empower care teams to make smarter decisions and optimize patient flow, while reducing the cognitive load on team members and improving the patient experience. Our solutions not only deliver meaningful returns but have also recently achieved the highest KLAS rating, creating a competitive edge for our clients, including health systems, independent hospitals, and academic medical centers. By integrating with EHRs, the Qventus platform leverages GenerativeAI, machine learning, and behavioral science to predict operational bottlenecks, recommend remedies, and automate processes. Explore more at qventus.com.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit, and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKR’s insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life, and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKR’s investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc., please visit KKR’s website at kkr.com. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Group’s website at globalatlantic.com.

Originally announced January 13th, 2025

< + > ATA airs concerns about DEA's proposed special telehealth registration

The virtual care organization said the Drug Enforcement Administration's draft framework would impose on clinical decision-making. It also flagged compliance impracticalities around provider exclusions and arbitrary requirements.

< + > Key Insights and Perspectives from Day 3 at ViVE 2025

This week Healthcare IT Today will be attending the ViVE Conference happening in Nashville.  For those not familiar with the event, it’s a partnership between HLTH and CHIME that brings together some of the best healthcare CIOs and other healthcare executives at one great event.  The conference boasts 8,000+ attendees, 800+ sponsors, 1500+ C-level, and 300 speakers.

At the conference, we’ve been asking some of the top companies, executives, and health IT leaders to share some of their perspectives and insights on a wide variety of topics including AI, Security, workforce, leadership and more.  Plus, we’re asking health IT vendors what announcements they are making at the event.  Check out some of the short video interviews we did on Day 3 of ViVE 2025.

Edmund Jackson, PhD, CEO, Co-Founder at UnityAI

Dan Shoenthal, Chief Innovation Officer at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Jeffrey Jones, Sr VP, Product Development at UPMC Enterprises

Anthony Polizzi, Senior Director – Solution Architecture at Reveleer

Ronen Lavi, cofounder and CEO at Navina

BJ Schaknowski, CEO at symplr

Fran Rosch , President & CEO at Imprivata

Christian Boucher, Field CTO Healthcare at Island.io

 

Be sure to check back on this page regularly throughout the day as we add more videos we’re recording at the ViVE conference.  Plus, be sure to check out all of our ViVE 2025 conference coverage.

< + > AI computer vision enables big OR efficiency gains for Houston Methodist Hospital

Artificial intelligence forecasts scheduling changes and improves resource productivity and team coordination to increase case volumes without compromising quality and decrease staff burden. The result for Houston? A 15% increase in OR capacity.

< + > HIMSS25 Healthcare Cybersecurity Forum: Beyond tips and best practices

The day-long preconference symposium will offer real-world lessons on building safer and more resilient IT systems while creating organizational culture where cybersecurity is fundamental.

< + > AI and VBC go mainstream in 2025 amid cybersecurity gains, expert predicts

Robert Connely of Pega says patching legacy systems will give way to true health IT modernization, a security breakthrough will lead artificial intelligence into routine use – and AI will make value-based care the industry standard.

< + > Interoperability from ED to EMS picked up speed, NEMSIS says

The presence of hospital outcome data on EMS patient care reports in the National Emergency Medical Services Information System database improved in 2024. Data exchange progress is good news for patient care and could ultimately improve health outcomes.

< + > Bonus Features, ViVE Edition – February 18, 2025 – CancerX launches latest Accelerator, Innovaccer unveils new AI agents, plus 16 more stories

Welcome to the special ViVE 2025 edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article is a roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, partnerships, research studies, and sales from this year’s event in Nashville. 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 and Research

• CancerX launched its 2025 Accelerator cohort with 14 startups focused on improving access to treatment, accelerating clinical trials, and providing personalized, connected care for patients beyond the clinic.
• Routine administrative tasks cost the healthcare industry $90 billion annually, according to the 2024 CAQH Index. Automating tasks such as insurance validation is poised to save $20 billion.

Partnerships

• Risk management vendor Censinet is collaborating with AWS to develop AI tools for governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). These include Censinet TPRM AITM and Censinet ERM AITM, which respectively cover third-party risk management and AI threat management.
• Steel Patriot Partners in partnership with ZenGRC launched Federal ZenGRC, a GCR management tool for U.S. government agencies and contractors.

Products

• Innovaccer launched Agents of Care, a set of AI agents that automate tasks such as scheduling, referrals, HCC coding, and prior authorizations.
• Vitalacy launched Virtual Care, a platform that continuously monitors patients in hospital beds.
• ePrescribing vendor DoseSpot launched DoseSpot Connect, which helps providers select the right pharmacy and find affordable prescriptions.
• symplr launched symplr Operations Platform to help hospitals manage disparate operations applications.
• RCM optimization vendor Iodine Software launched Appeals Management Workspace to support denials management.
• UPMC Enterprises launched Ahavi, a platform for evaluating and refining AI models.
• Document exchange and interoperability vendor Concord Technologies launched Concord Connect, which routes patient records to the appropriate system.
• Aidoc received FDA clearance for computer-aided triage for rib fractures.

Sales

• Highmark tapped Sword Health to provide Virtual Pelvic Health as a free benefit for eligible members.
• MultiCare Health System ACO MultiCare Connected Care chose Tuva Health to build, operate, and manage its enterprise health data platform.

New Companies

• HRT Club: Direct-to-consumer hormone replacement therapy.
• Kabilah: AI platform for nursing workflows.
• Soglia: Patient recruitment for clinical trials.
• VoiceCare AI: Automating back-office conversations.

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.

< + > Unifying telemedicine efforts can help health systems succeed with virtual care

That's the message Teladoc Health's Scott Wilson and two colleagues from Valley Health System will be delivering at HIMSS25. Wilson offers a preview of the session, with tips for realizing value from telehealth.

< + > What do nurses really want from AI?

At HIMSS25 in Las Vegas next month, members of the HIMSS Nursing Innovation Advisory will explore where artificial intelligence is finding favor with RNs, where they're skeptical of it – and how it can be deployed and integrated safely into practice.

< + > What Things in Healthcare Need to Be Put on Ice? – Healthcare IT Today Podcast Episode 160

There are a lot of things demanding our attention in the world of healthcare. And with how quickly this world evolves, what demanded our attention yesterday may change tomorrow. This requires us to do some triaging to figure out which topics we should give our immediate attention to and which ones can be put on ice. So for the 160th episode of the Healthcare IT Today Podcast, we are doing just that! This time we are debating what things in healthcare need to be put on ice.

Here’s a preview of the topics we discuss in this episode:

• Regulations
• Healthcare Traditions & Habits
• Technologies
• Buzzwords

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

We publish a new Healthcare IT Today podcast every ~2 weeks. Thanks to our friends at Healthcare Now Radio, you’ll be able to listen to the latest episodes of Healthcare IT Today on their radio station for the first two weeks. Then, we’ll be publishing each episode as a podcast and YouTube video here after it finishes on the radio.

You can also subscribe to the Healthcare IT Today podcast on any of the following platforms:

• Apple Podcasts
• Google Podcasts
• Stitcher Podcast Radio
• TuneIn
• Spotify
• iHeartRadio
• Pandora

Thanks for listening to Healthcare IT Today and if you enjoy the content we’re sharing, please rate the podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.

Along with the popular podcasting platforms above, you can Subscribe to Healthcare IT Today on YouTube.  Plus, all of the audio and video versions will be made available to stream on HealthcareITToday.com.

If you work in Healthcare IT, we’d love to hear where you agree and/or disagree with the perspectives we shared. Feel free to share your thoughts and perspectives in the comments of this post, in the YouTube comments, with @Colin_Hung or @techguy on Twitter, or privately on our Contact Us page. Let us know what you think of the podcast and if you have any ideas for future episodes.

Thanks so much for listening!

Listen to Our Latest Episodes: