Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Epic Launches Ergo AI Platform and Joins Anthropic’s Glasswing Initiative at UGM
Epic’s annual Users Group Meeting, held August 17–20 in Verona, Wisconsin, showcased the new Ergo AI platform and a suite of clinical tools. CEO Judy Faulkner introduced Ergo Visit for outpatient AI assistance, patient chatbot Emmie inside MyChart, and Penny for revenue cycle management. A Coverage Requirements Discovery API for prior authorization is now live at Ochsner, Froedtert, Denver Health, and Summit Health. Epic joined Project Glasswing, Anthropic’s AI cybersecurity initiative with roughly 150 member organizations. Software release cadence has compressed from 18 months to quarterly. Epic reports 1.4 million clinicians using its AI tools monthly, with 9.3 billion records exchanged across its network.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Oracle Health Expands Clinical AI Agent with Coding, Dictation, and Chart Review Tools
Oracle Health expanded its Clinical AI Agent this week with three new capabilities targeting physician efficiency: automated professional fee coding, real-time dictation into any EHR text field, and more comprehensive chart review summaries. General Manager Seema Verma credited the agent with saving more than 400,000 physician hours since its launch nearly two years ago. Oracle positioned the updates as reducing administrative burden without requiring physicians to learn new software. The announcement aligns with broader healthcare AI investment trends as vendors race to demonstrate measurable productivity returns from AI deployments across electronic health record platforms.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
FDA Seeks Public Input on Regulatory Framework for Generative AI Medical Devices
The FDA’s Digital Health Center of Excellence published a discussion paper seeking public input on regulating generative AI-enabled medical devices, covering premarket evaluation, post-market monitoring, and a proposed voluntary Foundation Model Device Master File framework. The agency flagged risks specific to genAI — including hallucinations, unexpected behavior, and performance degradation after deployment — noting that traditional software testing methods may be insufficient for systems that accept open-ended inputs and generate varied outputs. FDA is considering a competency-based premarket approach and periodic post-market retesting. The paper does not propose binding policy changes. Public comments are due October 19.
Sources: MobiHealthNews
Francisco Partners to Acquire Weave Communications for $650M, Taking AI Health Platform Private
Francisco Partners, a global investment firm, has agreed to acquire Weave Communications — an AI-powered patient engagement and payments platform — at an equity valuation of approximately $650 million, taking the company private. Under the deal, Weave stockholders will receive $7.40 per share in cash, roughly 34% above the stock’s August 17 closing price. Founded in 2008, Weave serves tens of thousands of healthcare practices with tools for scheduling, appointment reminders, digital forms, insurance verification, payments, and an AI receptionist. The acquisition is part of an active August for healthcare M&A, which has also included the Universal Health Services-Talkspace and Hinge Health-Cylinder deals.
Sources: MobiHealthNews
R1 Acquires Humata Health to Strengthen AI-Driven Prior Authorization Capabilities
Revenue cycle management company R1 has agreed to acquire Humata Health, a Florida-based startup founded in 2023 by a Mayo Clinic-trained physician, to strengthen its AI-driven prior authorization capabilities. Humata’s platform achieves up to a 96% first-pass approval rate, cutting provider write-offs by 30% and reducing rescheduled appointments by 83%, according to the companies. R1 processes more than 600 million transactions annually across 1,000-plus providers. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026. CEO Joe Flanagan said the acquisition deepens R1’s focus on using AI to reduce administrative friction between payers and providers — a persistent challenge across U.S. healthcare.
Sources: Healthcare Dive
Bioptimus Partners with Cancer Research Horizons on AI Model for Colorectal Cancer
Paris-based AI biotech Bioptimus has partnered with Cancer Research Horizons, the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK, to access the Stratification in Colorectal Cancer (S:CORT) dataset containing multimodal profiles from more than 1,750 patients. The data will feed Bioptimus’s M-Optimus biological foundation model through its Spatial Tissue Embedding Learning Atlas (STELA) initiative, which aims to profile 100,000 patient specimens across global research institutions. Cofounder David Cahané noted that S:CORT’s randomized treatment arms help the model distinguish patients with poor prognoses from those likely to benefit from specific therapies. This marks Bioptimus’s third STELA partnership in five months.
Sources: MobiHealthNews
Hopscotch Raises $53M Series D to Expand Rural Medicare Primary Care Across Southeast
Rural primary care provider Hopscotch has raised $53 million in Series D funding to expand its technology-enabled, value-based services for Medicare patients across the Southeastern United States. The round was led by 8VC and Town Hall Ventures, with participation from aMoon Fund, Citi Impact Fund, Alumni Ventures, K2 HealthVentures, and new investors including Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr and the Leon Levine Foundation. Founded in 2021, Hopscotch focuses on rural Western North Carolina, offering same-day visits, 24/7 care team access, virtual care, and in-home support. CEO Tim Gronniger said the funding marks an inflection point for the company and for rural healthcare broadly.
Sources: MobiHealthNews
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Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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