Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Friday, May 29, 2026
House Republicans Urge FBI to Act Aggressively Against Hospital Ransomware Groups
House Republican leaders sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel on May 28 calling for aggressive action against cybercriminal groups targeting the healthcare industry. The lawmakers cited a sharp increase in ransomware attacks and data breaches over recent years that have jeopardized patient safety and cost hospitals millions of dollars. The letter urged the FBI to expand public-private partnerships with healthcare stakeholders, streamline reporting mechanisms, and provide clear guidance enabling hospitals of all sizes to participate in information-sharing initiatives without excessive administrative burden. Members of Congress said they remain committed to policies that strengthen cybersecurity resilience across the healthcare sector and hold malicious actors accountable.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Health-ISAC Warns Agentic AI Is Expanding Healthcare's Cyberattack Surface
Hospitals and health systems face an expanding cyberattack surface because of the increasing deployment of agentic AI, the Health Information Sharing and Analysis Center warned in a May 26 report. Health-ISAC noted that cyber risk now encompasses decisions employees make about what they delegate to AI systems and autonomous agents, with a recent Verizon study finding that staff mistakes account for a disproportionate share of healthcare data breaches. The nonprofit recommended organizations adopt a human risk management maturity model that includes workforce engagement, leadership endorsement and a strong security team. Health system leaders are also calling for greater cooperation with AI developers to enable safe agentic deployment.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Teladoc Health Joins Walmart's Better Care Services With Urgent Care, Dermatology and Nutrition
Teladoc Health is expanding its virtual care offerings through Walmart's Better Care Services platform, giving customers access to urgent care, dermatology and nutrition services. Available through insured and cash-pay options, including an $89 per-visit cash rate, the services include 24/7 virtual urgent care for common conditions such as sinus infections and urinary tract infections, dermatology consultations reviewed within 24 hours via photo upload, and nutrition counseling for diabetes, weight management and prenatal support. Prescriptions can be sent to Walmart pharmacies, where same-day delivery is available in many locations. The collaboration follows the January launch of BetterHelp mental health services on the same platform.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Voice-Activated EHRs Are Here, But Clinician Adoption Hasn't Followed — Yet
Voice activation has arrived in most major electronic health record platforms, but meaningful clinician adoption remains limited, health system IT leaders told Becker's. Epic's Hey Epic! feature has existed since 2018, and its Chart with Art tool launched in late 2025, yet clinicians at Baptist Health, Houston Methodist and ChristianaCare say command-based voice navigation does not fit clinical workflows. CIOs are more optimistic about the near term: OSF Healthcare's CIO David Hall predicts broad adoption will begin by the end of 2026, and Penn Medicine is planning a clinic without keyboards. Most leaders cited ambient documentation as the area where voice technology has already delivered the most meaningful value.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
UCHealth and University of Colorado Study Live Abridge AI Scribe Rollout Across 250 Clinicians
UCHealth in Aurora, Colorado, and the University of Colorado jointly studied the live rollout of Abridge's AI documentation scribe as it was being deployed across 250 ambulatory clinicians, making real-time operational decisions that directly affected the study's randomization and validity. The research team, led by CT Lin, MD, chief medical information officer at UCHealth, grounded the study design in Epic EHR log data combined with physician and advanced practice provider satisfaction scores rather than relying on retrospective analysis. The approach allowed the health system to gather evidence on clinical impact without disrupting the deployment. UCHealth has since expanded the Abridge AI scribe to approximately 3,000 clinicians.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Tanner Health Deploys AI Platform to Deliver Personalized Career Guidance to Frontline Staff
Tanner Health in Carrollton, Georgia, has deployed an AI-enabled workforce and human resources support platform designed to provide frontline healthcare employees with personalized career guidance at scale. The platform uses AI-powered intake tools to prepare counseling materials and generate follow-up plans, which are then reviewed and approved by human counselors before delivery. The system is designed to connect workforce data across HR, scheduling, credentialing and learning platforms, giving the health system a consolidated view of employee development. The technology is also intended to support workers whose job functions are changing as artificial intelligence becomes embedded across clinical and administrative operations.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
University Health Kansas City Cuts Alarm Fatigue 22% and Saves 10,500 Nursing Hours With Philips Integration
University Health Kansas City reduced alarm fatigue and reclaimed more than 10,500 nursing hours annually after deploying an integrated, centralized monitoring platform developed in partnership with Philips. Chief Nursing Officer Amy McTaggart, DNP, RN, said that disconnected EHRs, monitoring dashboards and communication tools had forced nurses to perform duplicate work and manage constant alert floods, with staff at one point printing cardiac rhythm strips and taping them to paper. After transitioning to a centralized monitoring unit, the health system achieved a 22 percent reduction in non-actionable alarms and a 69.6 percent decrease in time spent on waveform strip documentation. Mobile bedside devices further reduced unnecessary movement across nursing units.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
University Hospitals Cleveland Launches First CDL Health System Innovation Hub With Case Western Reserve
University Hospitals in Cleveland is partnering with Creative Destruction Lab and Case Western Reserve University to launch CDL-Cleveland, the first Creative Destruction Lab site anchored to a health system. The initiative will host CDL's Healthcare Delivery stream, giving early-stage healthcare technology companies direct access to University Hospitals' clinical environment. Participating founders will work alongside clinicians and caregivers during a nine-month, objectives-based program designed to validate technologies aimed at reducing healthcare costs and improving patient outcomes. The program connects early-stage ventures with clinicians, mentors and healthcare experts, accelerating the pathway from idea to clinical deployment within an active hospital setting.
Sources: Becker's Hospital Review
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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