Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Monday, June 9, 2026
Three Southern Ohio VA Facilities Activate Oracle Health EHR
The Dayton VA Medical Center and facilities in Cincinnati and Chillicothe, Ohio went live on the Oracle Health EHR system this past weekend, marking the second wave of the VA’s 2026 deployment schedule. A central command center will monitor the rollout through June 18. The three Buckeye State facilities join four Michigan VA medical centers that activated the system in April. The VA aims to move all facilities onto the Oracle platform by 2031, with 13 VAMCs slated to go live this year. The modernization program, once halted for 18 months following patient harm events, has logged more than 200 consecutive days without a major outage.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
GAO: Federal EHR Modernization Office Lacks Cybersecurity Accountability
The Government Accountability Office has flagged the Federal EHR Modernization office — the joint VA and Department of Defense body overseeing the shared federal EHR — for failing to follow leading practices for cybersecurity collaboration. The FEHRM office lacks well-defined common goals, performance measures or accountability mechanisms across its four agency partners: the VA, DoD, Coast Guard and NOAA. While the office runs weekly cybersecurity meetings and has initiated various interagency efforts, GAO says outcomes remain unmeasured. The DoD disagreed with the report’s findings. GAO recommended both agencies direct the FEHRM to define goals and monitor shared security commitments.
Sources: Health IT Security
Senate HELP Chair Demands Answers on NYC Health + Hospitals Data Breach
Senate HELP Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy sent a letter to NYC Health + Hospitals CEO Michael Katz demanding details about a cybersecurity breach that exposed patient data between November 2025 and February 2026. The unauthorized access, linked to a third-party vendor, compromised health insurance, medical, biometric, billing, Social Security and geolocation data. NYC H+H, the largest public health system in the U.S., notified affected patients in March. Cassidy is pressing for responses by June 18, seeking information on security protocols, remedial steps and notification commitments beyond HIPAA requirements. The incident is among 628 healthcare data breaches reported in 2025.
Sources: Fierce Healthcare
AI Deployment Stalls Without Clean Data, Healthcare Leaders Warn
Healthcare organizations racing to deploy AI face a foundational obstacle: poor data quality. According to Joe Hickey of Verato, AI systems are only as effective as the data they receive, and patient record inaccuracies, duplicates and identity mismatches undermine performance across revenue cycle, clinical operations and consumer engagement. A recent S&P Global report found that 84% of healthcare organizations believe data mismatches contribute to lost revenue, while 81% of providers and payers say they cannot deliver personalized care without accurate consumer data. Hickey warns that organizations scaling AI without first securing a reliable identity foundation risk compounding the data problems that already cost them patients and revenue.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
CVS Health Launches AI Learning Academy to Prepare Its Workforce
CVS Health has rolled out an AI Learning Academy designed to build practical AI fluency across its workforce. Built collaboratively by HR and technology leaders, the program goes beyond standard training to give employees confidence in understanding what AI can and cannot do in their daily workflows. Workshops are tailored by department — finance teams, pharmacy teams and others each receive curriculum specific to their use cases. CVS also addressed workforce fears directly, emphasizing that AI is intended to handle repetitive tasks rather than replace people. The company views AI literacy as a transferable career asset regardless of where employees ultimately work.
Sources: Fierce Healthcare
Mount Sinai Launches Fully Remote PrEP Program to Expand HIV Prevention
Mount Sinai Health System has launched a fully remote telehealth program for pre-exposure prophylaxis, partnering with Wisp to make HIV prevention accessible to underserved patients across New York State. The platform allows at-home HIV testing with prescriptions available within 24 to 48 hours of lab results, covered by most commercial and private insurance. The program addresses a critical gap: only 36% of those who could benefit from PrEP currently have access to it. New York City recorded 1,791 new HIV cases in 2024, with most diagnoses among underserved communities. Quarterly testing requirements are built in to support long-term medication adherence.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Essence Healthcare Deploys Oura Ring Data to Screen Members for Sleep Apnea
Medicare Advantage insurer Essence Healthcare is deploying a clinical workflow that uses Oura Ring sleep data to identify members at risk for obstructive sleep apnea — a condition affecting 20 to 30% of adults over 65, with 80% of cases undiagnosed. With patient consent, breathing disturbance data from the ring is shared with Essence, which uses Lumeris’ Tom platform to administer the STOP-BANG screening to at-risk individuals. Results are sent directly to members’ physicians for follow-up, which may include a sleep study. About one-third of Essence members have opted into using the ring.
Sources: Fierce Healthcare
Rock Health: 57% of U.S. Adults Own Wearables, Clinical Integration Lags
A Rock Health analysis of 8,000 U.S. adults finds that 57% now own a wearable or connected health device — a 33-percentage-point jump from 13% in 2015. Among wearable owners, 59% have discussed their device data with a healthcare provider, with 30% doing so regularly. Yet researchers caution that clinical infrastructure has yet to fully loop in this data stream. “What remains unresolved is impact — in what these devices can generate and what can be done with this data to meaningfully improve health outcomes,” Rock Health researchers wrote. Ownership skews younger and wealthier, though racial and ethnic minority ownership stands at 64% versus 54% among white adults.
Sources: Health IT News
Curated by JD · samwise.agency