Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Thursday, April 30, 2026
Senate Grills Kennedy Over AI Medicare Prior Authorization Delays
At a Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday, Senator Maria Cantwell confronted HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction model, a CMS pilot using AI to manage prior authorizations in six states. Cantwell’s snapshot report, drawn from Washington State Hospital Association data, found patients now wait two to four times longer for procedures. Providers at the University of Washington Medical System average 15 to 20 days for authorization responses on epidural steroid injections. Kennedy called the delays unacceptable and pledged to work with Cantwell’s office, while defending the program as a response to Medicare skin substitute spending that surged from $250 million to $23 billion.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Nearly 1 in 4 Healthcare Organizations Report Cyberattacks Degrading Medical Devices
A new report from security firm RunSafe Security, released April 29, found that cyberattacks are directly degrading medical device performance in healthcare organizations across the U.S., U.K., and Germany. Based on 551 healthcare professionals surveyed, nearly a quarter reported attacks damaging device functionality, with 80 percent of those incidents disrupting patient care. Nearly 30 percent said their organizations operate legacy devices past end-of-support, with half acknowledging known, unpatched vulnerabilities. On a positive note, 84 percent now include cybersecurity requirements in vendor RFPs, and similar proportions are deploying or piloting runtime exploit protection — a defense effective even when patches cannot be applied to aging equipment.
Sources: GovInfoSecurity
Utah Refuses to Suspend AI Prescription Refill Pilot Despite Medical Board Demand
Utah’s Department of Commerce declined on April 28 to suspend its Doctronic AI prescription refill pilot after the Utah Medical Licensing Board — with 11 of 14 physicians signing — demanded an immediate halt. The board argued refilling prescriptions requires clinical reassessment for side effects, drug interactions, and dosage changes, and said the program launched without the board’s knowledge. The state responded that the pilot remains in phase one, with a licensed physician reviewing every refill decision, meeting the standard of care. Doctronic’s January-launched program allows Utah residents to renew 191 approved medications via AI chat. Critics nationwide are watching the outcome as a precedent for AI-assisted prescribing authority.
Sources: Fierce Healthcare
GE HealthCare Raises Prices, Reorganizes Leadership After Weak Q1
GE HealthCare on April 29 announced plans to raise prices on medical imaging products and reorganize its executive leadership following a weak first quarter. The company reported Q1 revenues of $5.1 billion, up 7.4 percent, but organic growth of just 2.9 percent fell short of expectations. Catherine Estrampes was appointed Chief Commercial and Growth Officer to lead a newly defined Global Markets region. The imaging business, representing approximately $8 billion in annual sales, remains GE HealthCare’s largest segment. Price increases are intended to offset ongoing tariff impacts and rising component costs that have weighed on profitability across medical device manufacturers in 2026.
Sources: Modern Healthcare
ONC Convenes Stakeholders to Push Behavioral Health Record Interoperability
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT convened providers, technologists, and policymakers on April 28 to assess progress on integrating behavioral health data into mainstream health IT. The session evaluated outcomes from nine behavioral health data exchange pilots testing USCDI+ BH standards across 45 exchange partners in nine states. ONC Deputy National Coordinator Dr. Jason Funderburk moderated, with leaders stressing that data exchange is only meaningful when it produces clinical impact at the point of care. Key challenges identified: many behavioral health providers still lack certified EHRs, and interoperability with acute care settings remains limited despite federal initiatives under the Behavioral Health Information Technology Initiative.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Johns Hopkins Virtual Nursing Program Saves 3,000+ Hours of Bedside Nurse Time
A published outcome study from Johns Hopkins Hospital confirms that its virtual nursing program, tracking more than 16,000 sessions, has saved over 3,000 hours of bedside nurse time. The April 28 report details how remote nurses handle admissions, discharges, and patient education, freeing bedside staff for direct clinical care. Johns Hopkins found the program improved throughput, reduced redundant tasks, and achieved strong nursing staff adoption — a frequent stumbling block for virtual care initiatives. The findings add to growing evidence that virtual nursing, when integrated with existing workflows and staffing models, delivers sustainable operational and financial value for health systems managing persistent workforce shortages.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Kettering Health Cuts Heart Failure Device Management Time 77% with Epic EHR Integration
Kettering Health in Ohio cut the clinical workload of managing CardioMEMS heart failure implants by 77 percent after integrating the Story Health platform directly into its Epic EHR. The setup pulls pulmonary artery pressure readings from Abbott’s Merlin system alongside home device data, labs, and medication history into a single EHR-embedded dashboard. Advanced practice providers’ time on post-implant activities dropped from four and a half hours per week to roughly one hour and fifteen minutes. Individual diuretic adjustment tasks fell from seven and a half minutes to about 90 seconds. Billing documentation time was cut by 70 percent through automated charge capture within the EHR workflow.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Curated by JD · samwise.agency