Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Monday, September 21, 2026
Healthcare’s agentic AI boom is outpacing security governance, survey finds
Healthcare organizations are rapidly adopting agentic artificial intelligence while governance frameworks lag significantly behind, according to a survey by digital identity security firm Imprivata, conducted by market research firm Vanson Bourne. More than 85% of healthcare AI strategy leaders report confidence in their ability to oversee AI agents—yet 72% admit AI tools are deployed without IT approval at least occasionally, revealing a sharp disconnect. More than a quarter of organizations have already implemented agentic AI, and 44% are piloting it. Imprivata’s chief medical officer warned that agents with excessive permissions could expose patient data or alter medication dosages. ECRI has named insufficient AI governance a top patient safety concern.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
VA deploys Oracle EHR to four medical centers in Ohio and Kentucky
The Department of Veterans Affairs deployed the Oracle electronic health record to four medical centers in Ohio and Kentucky on Saturday, serving more than 7,200 clinicians and staff. The rollout covered Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Chillicothe VA Medical Center, Dayton VA Medical Center, and Cincinnati VA Medical Center-Fort Thomas, marking the VA’s eighth of 13 planned deployments this year. The rollout follows a years-long pause to fix reliability issues; the Trump administration has been accelerating the project. The VA says it has corrected hundreds of problems at the original six sites and plans to hire 400 additional staff to support the expansion.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Penn Medicine launches PennChart Integration and Expansion Program
Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine has launched the PennChart Integration and Expansion Program, known as PIE, to extend its electronic health record system to additional affiliated entities. The initiative will bring Lancaster General Health and associated facilities onto PennChart and add new clinical modules across the health system. Penn Medicine announced the program via LinkedIn on September 18, with the design phase now under way. PIE aims to consolidate the health system’s technology infrastructure and unify clinical workflows across its network of hospitals, physician practices, and affiliated providers spanning the greater Philadelphia and Lancaster County regions of Pennsylvania.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
UMMC confirms no ransom paid in February cyberattack that shuttered clinics for nine days
University of Mississippi Medical Center officials confirmed they did not pay a ransom following the cyberattack that disrupted operations beginning February 19. Vice Chancellor LouAnn Woodward made the confirmation public. The attack knocked out UMMC’s phone service, website, patient records systems, and IT infrastructure, forcing clinic closures for nine consecutive days before the health system returned to full operations on February 27. Mississippi State Auditor Shad White is reviewing the incident. A separate cyberattack on the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning is also under investigation. Jackson-based UMMC is the state’s only academic medical center and its largest hospital.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Luminis Health restores MyChart in read-only mode after September cybersecurity incident
Annapolis, Maryland-based Luminis Health has brought MyChart back online in read-only mode following a cybersecurity incident that began September 1. Phone service across the health system has been restored. Patient scheduling and secure messaging through MyChart remain unavailable. All three Luminis Health hospitals—including Anne Arundel Medical Center—and approximately 100 ambulatory care sites and physician practices are open and providing care. The health system continues to investigate the full scope of the incident, including any potential impact on patient data. No information about the type of attack or whether patient data was compromised has been publicly disclosed.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
California Gov. Newsom orders faster AI oversight and advances ‘kill switch’ requirements
California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order September 18 directing state agencies to accelerate implementation of two new AI oversight laws. The order speeds adoption of SB 813, which requires AI audit certification, and AB 1405, which establishes a state registry for AI auditors. Newsom also directed agency leaders to convene experts within two months to develop requirements for kill switch capabilities in advanced AI systems, and is considering embedding AI verification organizations on-site at frontier AI laboratories. The order follows a cybersecurity incident targeting AI platform Hugging Face and carries direct implications for California hospitals and health systems deploying AI tools.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
230+ organizations urge CMS to drop proposed restrictions on remote patient monitoring
More than 230 healthcare organizations—including 35 health systems—have urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services not to finalize proposed 2027 restrictions on remote patient monitoring and remote therapeutic monitoring services. The September 14 sign-on letter, organized by the Alliance for Connected Care, warns that proposed staffing and reimbursement changes in the 2027 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule would disrupt care for approximately one million Medicare beneficiaries managing chronic conditions at home. New signers include Hartford HealthCare and Mass General Brigham, joining Ascension, Sentara Health, and Stanford Health Care. CMS’s public comment period closed September 14, with most provisions set to take effect January 1, 2027.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
CIOs find finance teams largely left out of health system AI programs
Health system CIOs are discovering AI adoption gaps in non-clinical departments—particularly finance—even as clinical teams embrace the technology. Donna Roach, chief digital and information officer at University of Utah Health, said finance staff were not attending the health system’s AI open office hours and lacked the literacy to engage with available tools. The health system had about 70 AI use cases in development, roughly 20 operational. A senior finance leader planning to hire seven people to manually process spreadsheets prompted Roach to redirect the work to AI. Jefferson Health CDIO Luis Taveras addressed a parallel gap through an AI Champions network that embeds enthusiastic staff across each department.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
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