Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Utah Enlists Six Third-Party Evaluators to Vet Health AI Tools in Its Sandbox
Utah’s Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy has partnered with six third-party evaluators to audit, monitor and verify the performance and safety of health AI tools in its regulatory sandbox, Healthcare IT News reported Oct. 12. The evaluators are the Coalition for Healthcare AI, Stanford Clinical Excellence Research Centers, Clarion AI Partners, Glacis Technologies, Vega Health and mpathic AI. Tools developed through the sandbox must undergo third-party evaluation before deployment. The oversight model followed safety concerns over an initial Doctronic pilot automating prescription refills, which the state’s medical licensing board asked the office to suspend in April. Evaluators will negotiate payment directly with approved sandbox participants.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
Billing Firm and Nevada Orthopedic Group Report Patient Data Breaches
Allentown, Pennsylvania-based medical management and billing service provider Secure Healthcare Information Management has announced a security incident, The HIPAA Journal reported Oct. 12. An unauthorized third party accessed its network between July 6 and July 16, 2026, exposing names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, medical information and health insurance information. Notifications began Oct. 6. Separately, Desert Orthopaedic Center, which has five locations in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada, detected unauthorized access on or around Aug. 7, 2026, involving data including Social Security numbers, treatment information and Medicare/Medicaid ID numbers. Neither incident yet appears on the HHS Office for Civil Rights breach portal, so totals remain unclear.
Sources: The HIPAA Journal
Northwestern Medicine Embeds OpenEvidence AI in Its Epic EHR
Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine has embedded OpenEvidence’s AI clinical decision-support platform in its Epic EHR, giving physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other clinicians systemwide access at the point of care, Becker’s Hospital Review reported. Clinicians have been able to launch OpenEvidence directly from Epic since Oct. 8 and are signed in automatically through existing hospital credentials, according to an Oct. 12 news release. The rollout opens the tool to nurses, pharmacists and other clinical staff for the first time. Care teams can check medication dosing and drug interactions, review current guidelines and get cited answers from peer-reviewed literature. The organizations described the deployment as the first phase of a broader collaboration.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
States Have Obligated About $4 Billion of Nearly $10 Billion in Rural Health Transformation Funds
States had obligated about $4 billion of nearly $10 billion in first-year Rural Health Transformation Program funds as of July 31, according to a CMS report covered by Becker’s Hospital Review on Oct. 12. Ten states reported obligating at least 75% of their awards, while 15 reported less than 10%; New York and West Virginia reported $0. Technology features among the priorities: Connecticut obligated $15.2 million for EMR replacement and hospital system modernization, Washington about $42 million for critical technology infrastructure, and New Mexico $512,549 for a grants management platform. CMS plans to update the data after states submit their Nov. 30 quarterly reports.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
75% of Intermountain Radiologists Now Use Microsoft’s Smart Impression AI Tool
Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health said about 75% of its radiologists actively use Smart Impression, a Microsoft generative AI tool that drafts radiology report impressions, Becker’s Hospital Review reported, citing an Oct. 12 Microsoft customer story. Most of Intermountain’s radiology enterprise has had access for about six months. Smart Impression runs inside PowerScribe and produces draft impressions that radiologists review and finalize. Kenneth Nowers, MD, medical director of imaging operations, said rising imaging volumes, staffing shortages and higher quality expectations are driving the push, and that one of the clearest signs of success was the lack of complaints after deployment. Intermountain is also looking at Dragon Copilot for radiology.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Rock Health: Digital Health Startups Raise $3.7 Billion in Q3 as Deal Sizes Grow
U.S.-based digital health startups raised $3.7 billion across 114 deals in the third quarter of 2026, according to Rock Health’s Q3 market update, HIT Consultant reported Oct. 12. Year-to-date funding reached $11.1 billion across 358 deals, tracking toward a projected $14.8 billion for the year. The average 2026 deal size climbed to $31.0 million, up from $29.5 million in 2025 and $20.6 million in 2024, as capital consolidates into larger checks across fewer companies. The sector logged 45 M&A transactions in Q3, bringing the year-to-date total to 164. Public markets have seen no new digital health listings since HeartFlow in August 2025.
Sources: HIT Consultant
UT Austin Designs AI-Native Medical Center to Avoid the ‘Tentacle Problem’
The University of Texas at Austin is designing its academic medical center around AI before construction begins, Becker’s Hospital Review reported Oct. 12. Claudia Lucchinetti, MD, executive vice president for medical affairs and the UT Dell Medicine health system, said she wants to avoid the “tentacle problem” of another workflow or technology tacked onto a broken chassis. UT Dell Medical Center recently received its permit, ground clearing is set to begin this month, and the center will open in three phases from 2030 to 2032. Plans call for a single integrated care model with one digital architecture and one shared record, in partnership with MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Epic Honor Roll Grants Ranged From $165,000 to $755,000, Health System Disclosures Show
Epic’s Honor Roll Good Maintenance Grant Program provides financial incentives to health systems that adopt its best practices and latest features, and disclosed awards have ranged from $165,000 to $755,000, Becker’s Hospital Review reported Oct. 12. Baton Rouge-based FMOL Health received the largest, $755,000 in 2026, after earning summa cum laude for the third time. NYC Health + Hospitals received $748,000 in 2025, and Temple Health garnered $418,000 in 2026. Michigan Medicine and TidalHealth described their grants as credits toward Epic invoices or future work. Epic named 70 U.S. health systems to its 2026 Honor Roll in August, up from 64 in 2025.
Sources: Becker’s Hospital Review
Physicians Assess How Much of the Physical Exam Can Move to Telehealth
Three physicians told Healthcare IT News in an Oct. 12 feature that video, connected devices and guided examinations can capture a growing share of the physical exam, while hands-on care remains essential for some assessments. Dr. Cynthia Horner, chief medical officer at Amwell, said clinicians can assess general appearance, respiratory effort, gait and many dermatologic findings remotely. Dr. Blake J. Lesselroth of the University of Oklahoma/OU-Tulsa described simulations in which students using digital stethoscopes were largely successful conducting cardiopulmonary exams. Dr. Aditi U. Joshi, founder and CEO of Ardexia, said anything depending on touch, such as palpation, and incidental findings do not migrate to remote care.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
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