Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Thursday, July 2, 2026
NIH All of Us Research Program Releases Largest Dataset Yet — World's Biggest Genomic-EHR Database
The NIH All of Us Research Program released its largest dataset to date, CDRv9, now encompassing genomic data from nearly 750,000 participants — making it the world's largest integrated genomic and electronic health record database. The release includes more than 535,000 whole genome sequences linked to nearly 482,000 EHRs, 1.3 billion genetic variants, and new proteomics data from nearly 10,000 participants and RNA sequencing from nearly 9,000. EHR-linked data grew 22% from the prior release. Total enrolled participants now exceed 883,000. More than 86% of participants come from communities historically underrepresented in biomedical research. The dataset is available at no cost to registered researchers at researchallofus.org.
Sources: Healthcare IT News Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Health Tech's Next Big Question: Can AI Scale Across the Enterprise?
Health system IT leaders are framing the second half of 2026 as an inflection point for AI: the question is no longer whether AI works but whether it can scale. Executives at Houston Methodist, HealthPartners Care Group, and Texas Children's described a shift from point solutions to integrated platforms. Houston Methodist EVP and CIO Roberta Schwartz said the system is pushing partners to expand beyond single-use applications to find adjacent opportunities. At HealthPartners, a second-level nurse triage program has diverted about 65% of patients away from unnecessary ED visits. Texas Children's CEO Debra Sukin said AI is now infrastructure threading through clinical, research, and administrative functions — not a parallel initiative running alongside core operations.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
KLAS: Only Two Large Health Systems Made EHR Decisions in 2025 as Epic Adds 77 Hospitals
Only two large health systems — those with more than 10 hospitals — made an enterprisewide EHR purchase decision in 2025, according to KLAS Research. The total number of hospitals affected by a new EHR decision fell 40% compared with 2024 and nearly 50% compared with 2023. Epic added 77 hospitals to its acute care base in 2025 and was the only vendor selected in every large enterprise decision. Health IT leaders said the era of major EHR switches has largely ended, with future decisions expected to be driven primarily by acquisitions and mergers. One CIO warned that Epic's growing dominance creates an oligopoly that may push health systems toward third-party technology for analytics and innovation.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Trinity Health Outsources IT Service Desk and Applications Support, Targets Year-End 2026 Transition
Trinity Health, the roughly 90-hospital Catholic system based in Livonia, Michigan, is moving its internal IT service desk and applications support to an outside technology partner, with the transition targeted for completion by year-end 2026. The health system announced the change on June 18, citing the accelerating pace and complexity of healthcare technology as requiring specialized expertise and scale that a single organization cannot sustain on its own. Clinical and patient-facing positions are not affected. Trinity Health did not name the incoming vendor. The move follows a January 2026 decision to cut 10.5% of its revenue cycle workforce and outsource that function to an external partner under similar financial pressures, including reimbursement cuts and rising costs.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
American Hospital Association Names Steve Walsh as Next President and CEO
The American Hospital Association named Steve Walsh its next president and CEO following a national search. Walsh has served as president and CEO of the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association for nearly a decade and brings more than 20 years of healthcare experience. He will succeed outgoing CEO Rick Pollack, who announced his retirement in December 2025, and is set to start this fall. Before leading the Massachusetts association, Walsh served six terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where he wrote and helped pass Chapter 224, the state's 2012 healthcare reform law that incentivized alternative payment models and boosted primary care investment. The AHA represents approximately 5,000 hospitals and health systems nationwide.
Sources: Healthcare IT News Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
HIMSS AI Forum: Healthcare AI Governance Demands Multi-Stakeholder Frameworks and Mature Data Standards
Panelists at the HIMSS AI in Healthcare Forum in Boston called for multi-stakeholder governance frameworks as the essential tool for managing clinical AI safely and sustainably. Dr. Leeda Rashid of the FDA's Digital Health Center of Excellence moderated a panel including Dr. Deepti Pandita, CMIO of UC Irvine Health; Erika Kim of ARPA-H; and Denisa Lambert of TriMedx. Pandita warned that overlapping state and federal regulations create a 'very nebulous zone' for AI compliance and that governance playbooks are 'not plug-and-play.' Panelists emphasized that poor data quality is the root cause of most AI failures and that governance must integrate with workflow and culture, not operate as a standalone compliance function.
Sources: Healthcare IT News Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Mayo Clinic Reviews 100+ Clinical AI Tools in 2026 Under Executive-Led Governance Framework
Mayo Clinic has reviewed and approved more than 100 clinical AI applications in 2026 under a structured executive-led governance process, according to John Halamka, MD, president of Mayo Clinic Platform. Every tool must clear a review evaluating clinical complexity, patient safety, user training, workflow integration, and privacy and security. Tools deemed complex or used in time-urgent clinical scenarios cannot be deployed without proactive human review by qualified clinicians. Writing in a published column, Halamka and senior research analyst Paul Cerrato cited a lawsuit alleging ChatGPT contributed to a fatal overdose as a cautionary example, contrasting it with Mayo's systematic review framework as a model for the broader industry on responsible AI deployment.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
NYU Langone CHIO: Evidence Is Accumulating That Clinician Oversight Can Sometimes Degrade AI Performance
NYU Langone Health CHIO Paul Testa, MD, argued that healthcare is approaching a moment when removing a clinician from certain AI-assisted decisions may produce better patient outcomes — directly challenging the widely held principle that humans should always remain in the loop. Speaking on the Becker's Healthcare Podcast, Dr. Testa cited accumulating evidence that clinician involvement does not always improve AI model performance and described an 'ethical quandary' about when stepping back becomes the responsible act. Tomas Gregorio, CDIO of Care New England Health System, warned that AI models are improving faster than governance frameworks and that the industry faces hard questions within three to five years it is not prepared to answer.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Kaleida Health Completes 'Big Bang' Epic Go-Live, Retiring 13 Legacy EHRs in Single Transition
Buffalo, New York-based Kaleida Health completed a 'big bang' Epic go-live on May 30, retiring 13 legacy EHRs — including Athenahealth, Medent, Meditech, and Oracle Health — in a single transition covering all acute and ambulatory sites. The roughly 18-month project dedicated 200 employees full time to the Epic build, achieving 98% alignment with Epic Foundation. CIO Courtney Starnes credited a strong governance structure for keeping the timeline on track. The system has already enabled Epic's AI starter kit tools in clinical workflows; one CMO reported recovering approximately 13 minutes per day by week two post-go-live. Two Community Connect sites — Erie County Medical Center and the University at Buffalo — are scheduled to go live on the platform in October.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Curated by JD · samwise.agency