Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
JPS Health Network outage stretches into 8th day in Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Texas-based JPS Health Network remained in a controlled network downtime as of August 10, more than a week after detecting suspicious activity in its technology environment on August 3. The health system, which operates a 582-bed hospital and more than 25 community-based clinics for Tarrant County, took its network offline to isolate and secure its environment. JPS has not disclosed whether ransomware or unauthorized data access is involved. Clinical staff shifted to paper-based intake forms and manual downtime procedures. Pharmacy operations are taking longer than usual. JPS filed a catastrophe notice with the Texas Attorney General’s office, pausing its obligation to respond to public information requests.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
AnMed cyber incident: 10 facilities still closed 15 days later
Ten of Anderson, South Carolina-based AnMed’s outpatient facilities remained closed August 10, fifteen days after malware disrupted the health system’s IT systems across South Carolina and Georgia on July 26. The incident knocked out internet, phone lines, and network access system-wide. Closed facilities include multiple imaging centers, laboratory services, and specialty clinics, including AnMed Heart and Vascular Diagnostics, AnMed Laboratory Services, and AnMed Women’s Diagnostics. A forensic investigation remains ongoing. AnMed has not confirmed whether patient data was compromised and has offered no timeline for full restoration. The health system has warned patients to be cautious with electronic communications claiming to be from AnMed.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
311,760 patients affected by data breach at Brown University Health
Providence, Rhode Island-based Brown University Health is notifying 311,760 patients that personal information may have been compromised in a data breach at Brown Health Medical Group, its Dartmouth, Massachusetts physician practice, per a July 16 HHS notice. Unauthorized access to a legacy file server occurred December 15 and 16, 2025. The practice’s EHR was not affected. Compromised data may include names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, and financial account information. Brown University Health has not identified who was behind the breach and no ransomware group had claimed responsibility as of early August. Affected individuals are being offered two years of complimentary identity protection services.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Patients are consulting AI before their physicians
A growing share of U.S. patients are uploading lab results and imaging reports directly into AI chatbots such as ChatGPT before consulting a physician, fueling misinterpretation and privacy concerns, Becker’s reported August 10. Roughly a third of U.S. adults turn to AI chatbots for health advice, and 19 percent use the tools to interpret lab results or medical tests, per a 2026 KFF poll. OpenAI says more than 300 million people ask health-related questions on ChatGPT each week. Clinicians warn that patients who upload health data to chatbots waive HIPAA protections. “I’ll give them a recommendation and they’ll say, ‘Let me go ask AI,’” one internist told the publication.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Northeast Georgia Health System becomes 5th to launch Epic nurse AI tool
Northeast Georgia Health System has become the fifth health system in the country to deploy Epic’s Chart with Art ambient AI tool for nursing documentation. A pilot of 15 nurses and two patient care technicians is testing the technology across all five NGMC hospitals. Chart with Art records real-time conversations between nurses and patients, then drafts assessments, care plans, and patient education notes for clinician review before entering the medical record. “Our goal is to give nurses more time at the bedside,” said Marie DiFrancesco, chief nursing informatics officer, in an August 10 news release. Patients are informed when the tool is in use and may decline.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
NCQA’s first CMO aims to modernize quality measurement for the AI era
The National Committee for Quality Assurance appointed Dr. Ari Robicsek as its first chief medical officer to modernize quality measurement for an era of AI and interoperable clinical data. Robicsek, who previously led enterprise analytics and AI deployment at Providence health system, said NCQA’s priority is ensuring measures that touch care for more than 230 million Americans improve outcomes rather than accumulate reporting burden. His goals include accelerating HEDIS toward fully digital measurement built on FHIR standards and reducing measure sprawl — the average primary care physician faces incentives tied to 57 quality measures annually, he noted. He expects AI to make concepts like shared decision-making measurable at scale.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Maryland awards $80M in Rural Health Transformation funds
The Maryland Department of Health awarded $80 million to 41 grantees in the first funding round under the Rural Health Transformation Program, Governor Wes Moore announced August 10. The awards are funded through a $168 million federal grant from CMS under the national $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program created by H.R. 1. Funds will expand primary care, behavioral health, and dental services across Maryland’s 18 designated rural areas. Projects include hub-and-spoke telehealth models, virtual pediatric specialty care, integrated behavioral health, and 3D printing for oral health. The state estimates the funding will extend primary care access to tens of thousands of additional rural Maryland residents.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Louisiana launches Rural Tech Catalyst Fund with moneyball approach
Louisiana’s Rural Tech Catalyst Fund, launched through the federal Rural Health Transformation Program, is taking what state officials call a moneyball approach to rural healthcare technology investment. The state set aside $20 million for the first year, reviewing roughly 200 applicants from across the country, with awards expected in mid-September. Eligible startups must be under 10 years old and have raised less than $50 million. Louisiana Innovation and the Louisiana Department of Health designed the scoring rubric, vetting applicants on financial strength, product-market fit, and startup traction before applying a rural health lens. Eight states have established Rural Tech Catalyst Funds so far, with Louisiana ahead in innovation infrastructure.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
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