Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Monday, May 11, 2026
UT Austin launches Epic ahead of new academic medical center
The University of Texas at Austin went live with Epic on its ambulatory side in April 2026, ahead of its planned $2.5 billion UT Dell Medical Center opening. The institution is building what it describes as an AI-native hospital, integrating Abridge for ambient clinical documentation, Workday for HR and finance, and Kodiak for analytics, with Nordic serving as its primary IT implementation consultant. The Epic go-live has already generated nearly 7,000 MyChart patient portal users. The project represents a large-scale greenfield health IT deployment, offering a blueprint for academic medical centers pursuing next-generation digital infrastructure from day one.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
OpenAI's growing healthcare footprint
A new roundup from Becker's Hospital Review documents OpenAI's rapid expansion in healthcare from January through April 2026. Key milestones include the launch of ChatGPT Health for direct-to-consumer medical guidance, the OpenAI for Healthcare enterprise suite, the $60 million acquisition of Torch for clinical intelligence, the GPT-Rosalind foundation model targeting biology and life sciences, and the ChatGPT for Clinicians program. OpenAI also released a healthcare-focused AI policy blueprint during the period. For health IT leaders, the compilation underscores the accelerating pace of large language model deployment across clinical and administrative use cases, raising both opportunity and governance questions for organizations evaluating AI adoption strategies.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Roche to acquire startup PathAI for $750 million upfront
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche has signed a deal to acquire Boston-based PathAI for $750 million upfront, with up to $300 million in additional milestone payments. The acquisition, expected to close in the second half of 2026, extends a partnership between the two companies that began in 2021. PathAI has developed AI-powered digital pathology tools that help pathologists diagnose diseases more accurately and efficiently. The deal signals deepening investment in computational pathology and diagnostic AI, with significant implications for hospital laboratory IT infrastructure and the growing market for AI-assisted clinical decision support tools.
Sources: STAT News
Fitness wearable Whoop rolls out virtual clinician visits, EHR integration
Fitness wearable company Whoop has launched a suite of clinical features, including on-demand virtual visits with licensed clinicians and integration with major electronic health record systems. The move signals Whoop's ambition to evolve beyond consumer wellness tracking into a medically relevant platform capable of supporting care delivery. For health IT professionals, the EHR integration piece is particularly significant, enabling biometric data from continuously worn sensors — including heart rate variability, sleep patterns, and recovery scores — to flow directly into clinical workflows. The expansion reflects a broader trend of consumer wearables pushing deeper into clinical-grade monitoring and patient engagement infrastructure.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Hospital at home linked to lower ED visits, in-hospital mortality: study
A new study published in JAMA Network Open found that hospital-at-home programs are associated with significantly lower rates of emergency department revisits and in-hospital mortality compared to traditional inpatient care. The research examined outcomes across multiple health systems that implemented acute-level care in patients' homes, finding substantial quality improvements alongside cost efficiencies. As hospital-at-home programs expand — bolstered by ongoing federal waivers — the findings add weight to the case for broader adoption. For health IT leaders, the results highlight growing demand for remote patient monitoring platforms, telehealth infrastructure, and EHR-integrated care coordination tools capable of supporting clinical workflows outside hospital walls.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Amwell expects smaller losses in 2026 after Q1 performance
Telehealth platform Amwell reported first-quarter 2026 results and issued an improved outlook, projecting smaller annual losses as the company works toward profitability. Q1 showed continued revenue momentum alongside ongoing cost discipline, with management pointing to growing enterprise client adoption and expanded clinical programs as key drivers. The company has been restructuring its business model to shift away from consumer telehealth toward enterprise health system and payer partnerships. For healthcare IT executives, Amwell's trajectory reflects broader market consolidation among telehealth vendors and the increasing importance of integrated, enterprise-grade virtual care platforms embedded directly within hospital and payer workflows.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Cross Country Healthcare to be taken private by PE firm for $437M
Healthcare staffing giant Cross Country Healthcare has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Knox Lane for approximately $437 million, taking the publicly traded company private. The deal reflects sustained investor appetite in healthcare workforce solutions amid ongoing clinical staffing shortages across hospitals and post-acute care settings. Cross Country provides travel nursing, allied health staffing, and workforce management technology to hundreds of health systems. For healthcare IT leaders, the acquisition highlights the strategic value of digital workforce platforms and vendor management systems — tools increasingly embedded in hospital operations as organizations navigate persistent nursing shortages and evolving labor cost pressures.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Federation of American Hospitals taps new government relations head
The Federation of American Hospitals, the national trade group representing about 1,000 for-profit community hospitals, has named Elizabeth Schwartz as senior vice president and head of government relations. Schwartz comes from Merck, where she led U.S. policy and government relations for nearly a decade. Her appointment comes as hospital systems face significant federal funding headwinds, including billions in proposed Medicaid cuts and the lapse of enhanced ACA subsidies. FAH spent $3.6 million on lobbying in 2025 — its highest since 2019 — signaling an intensifying advocacy effort. The policy environment directly shapes hospital IT investment cycles and federal health IT mandate timelines.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Curated by JD · samwise.agency