News 2/23/26

Top News

Urgent care technology vendor Experity promotes Bobby Ghoshal to CEO.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Publication: HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2026 lists the activities of sponsors at the conference.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Grocery store chain Kroger extends its Little Clinic closures to three sites in its hometown of Cincinnati. It recently announced it will close all of its clinics in Georgia in early April.

People

ThoroughCare names Bradley Hill (BettrAI) CEO and Sean O’Donnell (Vantage Surgical Solutions) chief growth officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Coordinated Kidney Care Group (PA), Teredesai McCann & Associates (PA), and Central Mass Nephrology implement virtual specialty care and clinical research services from Istios Health.

Virtual mental healthcare company Talkspace will launch a chatbot later this year. Currently being beta tested by 1,000 users, CFO Ian Harris says “… the willingness of people to share with the AI therapy product … as opposed to a human, has been quite astonishing.”

Athenahealth will offer new AI capabilities within its AthenaOne platform, including text-based chat for patients, a virtual front desk assistant, waitlist scheduling, and a conversational agent to help patients navigate appointment rescheduling and payment questions.

AlethianAI announces GA of its new AI Diagnostic & Billing Assistant.

Other

The American Medical Association shares 11 books hand-picked by physicians to add to your reading list. I’ll add “A Dublin Student Doctor” by Patrick Taylor. I’ve recommended his “Irish Country” series before, and this entry is just as pleasant a read as the rest. Thankfully, I’ve still got 10 ahead of me to look forward to.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/18/26

Top News

The City of Garland, TX cancels its contract with Dallas-based telemedicine provider MD Health Pathways. The agreement would have automatically enrolled every Garland citizen into the company’s Tap Telehealth service for a $6 fee included in their utility bill. The decision to opt out of the contract was based on the concern of some residents that they would have to opt out if they didn’t want to participate; and that some groups, such as the elderly, may have a difficult time navigating the opt-out process. The city, which has been without a hospital since 2018, was in the midst of piloting the service, with a full roll-out planned for spring or summer.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Publication: HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2026 lists the activities of sponsors at the conference.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

People

Madi Rawlins (Wheel) joins Wellness Care as CEO.

Net Health promotes Nirav Modi president of its Limber Health business. Net Health acquired Limber Health last June.

Announcements and Implementations

Ohio ENT & Allergy Physicians will implement NextGen Healthcare solutions including EHR, practice management and revenue cycle software.

Other

Ballad Health (TN) CEO Alan Levine explains that the plan to loan money to physician practice State of Franklin Healthcare Associates will help SOFHA remain in business and independent. He stresses that the health system, which is seeing many of its physicians prepare to retire, wants SOFHA’s pipeline of clinical talent to remain intact, and that he does not want to see the group acquired by private equity or another health system. “It’s a risk worth taking,” Levin says. “I mean, should we bet on a large local physician group who really wants to stay here and remain independent? Absolutely.”

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/16/26

Top News

Harbor Health acquires tech-enabled dementia care company Rippl. Harbor Health operates a network of clinics in Texas, and offers insurance plans to employers, individuals, and families.

The company, which announced $130 million in new funding last September, will incorporate Rippl’s platform into its library of care pathways.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Live Webinar: February 18 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “From Blind Spots to Insights: Gaining Real-Time Visibility into Healthcare Risk.” Sponsor: CloudWave. Presenters: Jacob Wheeler, MBA, director of sales engineering, CloudWave; Mike Donahue, chief operating officer, CloudWave. Resilience starts with the ability to see clearly, across every endpoint, cloud workload, user, and clinical system. Join CloudWave’s cybersecurity leaders for an in-depth session on how real-time visibility transforms your ability to detect threats early, respond decisively, and strengthen resilience across the care ecosystem. Attendees will learn the practical steps that hospitals can take to move from reactive defense to resilient action.

Publication: HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2026 lists the activities of sponsors at the conference.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Virtual psychiatry group Talkiatry announces $210 million in Series D funding, bringing its total raised to $457 million.

Tech-enabled, value-based oncology care startup Atlas Oncology Partners announces $28 million in Series A funding. The company launched last month with its first customer, West Cancer Center & Research Institute (TN).

Announcements and Implementations

Children First Pediatrics (MD) implements AI-enhanced EHR technology from EClinicalWorks and Sunoh.ai’s AI medical scribe.

Research and Innovation

Amazon One Medical offers members AI-powered insights into their lab results via the One Medical app. The Health Insights feature analyzes and then offers insights and recommendations around 50 biomarkers from standard bloodwork.

Other

Patients feel the all-too-common pinch of today’s primary care shortage, as highlighted in this local news report detailing Optum’s decision to close one of the Northeast Portland’s few remaining primary care clinics. As one patient puts it: “I guess I could find another doctor, and I guess they could look at my MyChart and figure out what to do. But that’s not what medical care is supposed to be about. It’s supposed to be about continuity of care.”

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/11/26

Top News

CVS Health’s Q4 earnings and revenue beat analyst expectations, giving company execs good reason to expect 2026 earnings to remain in line with their $400 billion estimate.

Senior-focused primary care provider Oak Street Health, which CVS acquired in 2023 for $10.6 billion, has turned a profitability corner after closing 16 locations.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Live Webinar: February 18 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “From Blind Spots to Insights: Gaining Real-Time Visibility into Healthcare Risk.” Sponsor: CloudWave. Presenters: Jacob Wheeler, MBA, director of sales engineering, CloudWave; Mike Donahue, chief operating officer, CloudWave. Resilience starts with the ability to see clearly, across every endpoint, cloud workload, user, and clinical system. Join CloudWave’s cybersecurity leaders for an in-depth session on how real-time visibility transforms your ability to detect threats early, respond decisively, and strengthen resilience across the care ecosystem. Attendees will learn the practical steps that hospitals can take to move from reactive defense to resilient action.

Publication: HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2026 lists the activities of sponsors at the conference.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Digital MSK care company Hinge Health reports a Q4 revenue increase of 46%, with annual revenue increasing by 51%. Hinge Health went public last may, raising $437 million.

Avela Health raises $6.5 million. The company offers virtual autism therapy, including diagnostics and support services. Co-founders Robin McIntosh and Katherine Monti previously were executives at virtual addiction treatment provider WorkIt Health.

Online mental healthcare provider Grow Therapy acquires AI-based clinical documentation company Tenor Therapy. Grow Therapy will sunset the Tenor brand at the end of this month and fold Tenor’s product into its own platform.

Shares of Teladoc and Doximity dip on the news that Amazon will expand its its same-day prescription delivery service (which does use horses) to 4,500 cities by the end of this year. The company also plans to add additional pharmacy kiosks in the lobbies of its One Medical primary care clinics.

Announcements and Implementations

Village Medical (GA) selects senior-focused practice extension and remote patient monitoring services from Cadence.

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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News 2/9/26

Top News

Cardiology care startup Chamber announces $60 million in Series A funding. The company’s software and services are designed to help cardiology practices and payers participate more effectively in value-based care models.

Sponsored Events and Resources

Live Webinar: February 18 (Wednesday) 2 ET. “From Blind Spots to Insights: Gaining Real-Time Visibility into Healthcare Risk.” Sponsor: CloudWave. Presenters: Jacob Wheeler, MBA, director of sales engineering, CloudWave; Mike Donahue, chief operating officer, CloudWave. Resilience starts with the ability to see clearly, across every endpoint, cloud workload, user, and clinical system. Join CloudWave’s cybersecurity leaders for an in-depth session on how real-time visibility transforms your ability to detect threats early, respond decisively, and strengthen resilience across the care ecosystem. Attendees will learn the practical steps that hospitals can take to move from reactive defense to resilient action.

Publication: HIStalk’s Guide to ViVE 2026 lists the activities of sponsors at the conference.

Contact Lorre to have your resource listed.

People

Danny Gladden, MBA, MSW (Oracle Health) joins Streamline Healthcare Solutions as chief clinical officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Providers who use Athenahealth’s AthenaOne platform can now integrate health data generated by patients who use B.well Connected Health apps from within their clinical workflows.

KLAS posts its “2026 Best in KLAS: Software and Services,” with Athenahealth topping the Overall Independent Physician Practice Suite and four market segment awards.

Other

Providers in North Carolina are frustrated with the federal government’s decision to shut down the Making Care Primary program, which had been designed to offer primary care physicians direct financial support over a 10-year period for improving the health of their patients. Now that the program, which hadn’t yet hit the two-year mark, has wrapped up, providers are being advised to apply for the new CMS Long-term Enhanced ACO Design program. LEAD is another 10-year program that offers financial incentives to healthcare organizations rather than directly to physicians. “I’m angry,” says Patricia Hall, DO “but more than that, I am so very sad. It’s heartbreaking — to have an already inadequate health care system be made even more inadequate, to throw away opportunities to improve, even a little.”

Contacts

Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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