Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Sunday, June 7, 2026
Ohio and Indiana Sign Data-Sharing Deals with DOJ to Combat Medicaid Fraud
Ohio and Indiana signed data-sharing agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on June 5 to support a new anti-fraud collaboration. CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, FBI Director Kash Patel, and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced three fraud-related actions at a Columbus press conference. Indiana will provide data for a statewide fraud pilot powered by Oracle Health. Ohio suspended 49 home health providers from Medicaid and signed a memorandum of understanding with the DOJ. Federal indictments were issued against 14 Ohioans allegedly involved in schemes netting more than $50 million in fraudulent Medicaid billings.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Epic Drops SelfRx from Patient Record Misuse Lawsuit
Epic dropped legal claims against chronic condition management firm SelfRx on June 4 in a high-profile lawsuit originally alleging that health data network Health Gorilla allowed clients to improperly access patient records. SelfRx founder Martin Hensel stated in written testimony that his company had requested records for just 21 patients, receiving data for only 15 totaling fewer than 100 health records, directly contradicting Epic’s claim that SelfRx obtained over 100,000 patient files. Hensel said intermediary data broker Unit 387 retrieved records on SelfRx’s behalf through the Carequality framework without the required contract. The lawsuit continues against Health Gorilla and other defendants.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Mayo Clinic and Microsoft Partner to Build Frontier AI Model for Healthcare
Mayo Clinic announced on June 4 a partnership with Microsoft to develop a dedicated frontier artificial intelligence model for healthcare. The model will combine Mayo Clinic’s de-identified clinical data with Microsoft’s AI, cloud and engineering capabilities to support clinical reasoning, including earlier and more accurate diagnoses and treatment planning. Mayo Clinic will own the model, which will first be deployed within Mayo’s clinical environment before being made available to other organizations through Microsoft’s Azure Foundry AI platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. The partnership expands Mayo’s active AI portfolio, which includes models for earlier detection of pancreatic cancer and liver disease.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
NIST Revamps AI Consortium to Strengthen Safety and Evaluation Standards
The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced on June 4 it is expanding its AI Consortium, renamed from the Safety Institute Consortium launched in 2024, to seek new members from healthcare and other sectors. Six task groups will focus on AI testing, evaluation, bias detection, annotation standards, large language model limitations and chemical and biological security. Deputy Director Craig Burkhardt said the effort aims to develop scalable, interoperable AI and support next-generation readiness. Applications are invited following a May 29 Federal Register notice, and selected organizations must enter Cooperative Research and Development Agreements. The expanded scope aligns with the Trump administration’s national AI Action Plan.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Philips Forms First U.S. Community Health System Alliance with WellSpan
Royal Philips announced a seven-year strategic alliance with WellSpan Health on June 5, marking the first research and innovation agreement of its kind between Philips and a U.S. community health system. The deal establishes Philips as WellSpan’s preferred imaging vendor across all 12 of its Pennsylvania and Northern Maryland hospitals, while the partners jointly research, validate and co-develop AI imaging, diagnostics and care delivery technologies. A coordinated technology lifecycle management framework is also included. Royal Philips CEO Roy Jakobs said the alliance aims to drive measurable improvements in patient care quality and operational performance through a scalable, AI-driven, platform-based approach. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sources: MobiHealthNews
Wolters Kluwer and OpenAI Expand Enterprise AI Partnership for Clinical Decision Support
Wolters Kluwer and OpenAI expanded their enterprise AI collaboration on June 4, giving Wolters Kluwer access to OpenAI’s API and platform capabilities for deployment through its in-house Foundation and Beyond platform. The expanded deal supports Wolters Kluwer’s Expert AI product suite, including UpToDate Expert AI, a generative AI version of its evidence-based clinical decision support tool. As of April 30, more than half of Wolters Kluwer’s U.S. Enterprise Edition customers, representing approximately 2,000 hospitals, had adopted the Expert AI version, with 70 percent adoption expected by midyear. The platform is model-agnostic and preserves Wolters Kluwer’s ownership of product design, data governance and customer experience. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Sources: MobiHealthNews
Pope Leo’s AI Encyclical Offers Catholic Health Systems a Governance Framework
Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, published May 25, is shaping how Catholic health systems approach AI governance, according to healthcare attorneys Jim Flynn and Greg Krabacher of law firm EBG, writing in Healthcare IT News on June 5. The document argues AI innovation must remain grounded in human dignity. Four of the ten largest U.S. health systems by hospital beds are Catholic. The attorneys said the encyclical signals an obligation to audit AI tools for bias and require algorithmic transparency from vendors. Flynn cited paragraph 114, where the pope states civilization is measured not by the power of its means, but by its capacity to care.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Mercy Reports 29% Overtime Reduction After Deploying Ambient AI Documentation for Nurses
Mercy health system reported measurable gains from deploying ambient AI documentation using Microsoft Dragon Copilot, as detailed in a Healthcare IT News report published June 4. Working with Microsoft and Epic, Mercy nurses use the tool during patient encounters with patient consent to capture clinical conversations and generate documentation in real time rather than after the fact. The health system reported a 21 percent reduction in documentation latency, a 15 percent decrease in time spent documenting, and a 29 percent reduction in incidental overtime. Early pilots showed approximately $602 in annual overtime cost avoidance per user. Patient satisfaction scores increased by 4.5 percent, particularly in nurse communication.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
60% of U.S. Adults Own Wearables or Connected Devices, but Equity Gaps Persist
Nearly 60 percent of U.S. adults own at least one wearable or connected health device such as a smartwatch, smart ring or continuous glucose monitor, up from 13 percent in 2015, according to a Rock Health survey of 8,000 Americans published June 4. Nearly 60 percent of wearable owners have discussed device data with a provider, including 30 percent who do so regularly. However, owners skew younger, wealthier and healthier, raising equity concerns. Most health systems have not activated wearable integrations in patient portals due to liability and reimbursement worries. The CMS is piloting a payment experiment expanding technology-backed chronic care management, with wearable companies Whoop and Withings among participants.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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