Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Friday, May 8, 2026
CISA Pushes Critical Infrastructure to Prioritize Network Isolation and Recovery
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency launched CI FORTIFY, urging hospitals, utilities, and water systems to segment operational technology from IT networks and build rapid-recovery capabilities before the next major cyberattack. CISA officials said healthcare remains among the most targeted critical infrastructure sectors, citing ransomware incidents that have shut down patient care. The program calls on health systems to audit OT/IT boundaries, pre-position offline backups, and document manual override procedures for clinical systems. CISA will offer no-cost technical assessments to qualifying organizations throughout 2026. Sector-specific guidance for hospitals is expected later this summer.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
HHS Proposes Restructuring ARPA-H Around AI-Driven Biomedical Research
The Department of Health and Human Services proposed overhauling the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to center its mission on artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery, disease modeling, and clinical trial design. The restructuring would consolidate program offices under a new AI-focused directorate and shift ARPA-H investment priorities toward foundation models trained on biomedical data. Critics have raised concerns the reorganization could deprioritize non-AI research programs targeting neglected diseases. HHS said the changes would accelerate timelines from laboratory discovery to clinical application. Congress has not yet weighed in, and current program managers are evaluating the impact on active projects.
Sources: GovInfoSecurity
Mayo Clinic AI Model Triples Radiologists' Sensitivity for Early Pancreatic Cancer Detection
Mayo Clinic researchers demonstrated that REDMOD, a radiomics-based early detection model, can triple radiologists' sensitivity in identifying pancreatic cancer at its visually occult pre-diagnostic stage in routine abdominal CT scans. The findings, reported in Healthcare IT News, add to growing evidence that advanced AI systems show measurable promise in high-stakes clinical decisions. Researchers cautioned that real-world deployment depends heavily on training data quality and integration into existing radiology workflows. Healthcare IT leaders said the findings reinforce pressure to establish governance frameworks for clinical AI before widespread adoption. The Mayo team noted performance gains were most significant in early-stage detection, where current methods frequently miss tumors.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
OpenAI Releases Healthcare Policy Blueprint Calling for Federal AI Standards and Reduced Data Barriers
OpenAI published a policy blueprint Wednesday urging the federal government to establish AI interoperability standards, expand health data-sharing authorities, and reduce regulatory friction for AI-assisted clinical tools. The document calls on Congress to create a dedicated federal health AI office and update HIPAA provisions not designed for large-scale model training. OpenAI recommends liability safe harbors for clinicians using approved AI tools and proposes a national AI health data commons. Critics, including patient advocacy groups, said the blueprint prioritizes industry access over privacy. OpenAI acknowledged concerns but argued restricted data access is slowing AI's potential to address cancer, diabetes, and rare diseases.
Sources: STAT News
AHA and Joint Commission Launch Joint Cybersecurity Resilience Initiative for U.S. Hospitals
The American Hospital Association and The Joint Commission announced a joint cybersecurity resilience program to help hospitals assess their defensive posture and recover more quickly from cyberattacks. The initiative will develop a shared framework covering incident response, staff training, vendor risk management, and continuity of care during outages. Hospitals achieving designated benchmarks may qualify for recognition through Joint Commission accreditation. AHA officials said the program reflects escalating ransomware attacks against health systems and growing regulatory pressure following HHS cybersecurity performance goals. Voluntary assessment tools and implementation guidance are expected to be released to member organizations later this year.
Sources: American Hospital Association
Bronson Healthcare CIO Warns Against Letting AI Become a Margin-Extraction Tool in Health Systems
Dr. Ash Goel, chief information officer at Bronson Healthcare in Kalamazoo, Michigan, warned Thursday that health systems risk squandering artificial intelligence's transformative potential if leaders deploy the technology primarily to optimize revenue cycle and extract margin rather than improve patient outcomes. Writing in Healthcare IT News, Goel said that while AI has opened genuine opportunities for improved care delivery, most boardroom discussions focus on cost reduction rather than clinical improvement. He called on healthcare IT leaders to establish clear purposes for AI investments before deployment and to measure success against patient outcomes, not operational efficiency metrics alone.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Epic Health Systems Begin Connecting to Social Security Administration Through TEFCA
A group of Epic-powered health systems has established live connections to the Social Security Administration through the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement, marking one of the first federal agency integrations over TEFCA. The connections allow SSA to query clinical data needed to process disability determinations and benefits eligibility without requiring patients to manually submit medical records. Epic confirmed the integration uses existing TEFCA-compliant qualified health information network infrastructure. Participating systems said the workflow reduces administrative burden for patients and staff alike. Interoperability advocates noted the SSA use case demonstrates TEFCA can support government agency transactions, broadening the framework's applications beyond payer-provider data exchange.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
eHealth Exchange Wins KLAS Points of Light Award for Bulk FHIR Quality Measurement Pilot
eHealth Exchange received the 2026 KLAS Points of Light Award for its role in a pilot using Bulk FHIR APIs to automate HEDIS quality measurement data exchange, replacing manual chart reviews that previously took weeks. The initiative, part of the inaugural NCQA Bulk FHIR Quality Coalition, connected eHealth Exchange with MultiCare Connected Care and Cambia Health Solutions, successfully exchanging clinical data for more than 5,000 patients. The project reduced data retrieval from weeks to minutes and improved reporting completeness. KLAS Research said the project demonstrated that standards-based interoperability can significantly lower the administrative cost of quality measurement across payer and provider organizations.
Sources: Manila Times / GlobeNewswire
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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