Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Delaware expands payer and provider HIE access under RHTP
Delaware's Department of Health and Social Services and Health Care Commission are deploying Rural Health Transformation Program funds to expand prior authorization and insurance verification through the Delaware Health Information Network. Using the Smart Health Network platform, the DHIN upgrade adds real-time connections between payers and providers, reducing the need for separate payer portal logins and manual coverage checks. The American Medical Association estimates physician practices spend an average of 13 hours per week on prior authorization tasks. Delaware has set aside $6.42 million for its Real-Time Insurance Verification and Prior Authorization initiative, part of the state's $157 million first-year RHTP allotment from CMS.
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UC San Diego study: Humanoid robots perform minimally invasive surgery on pigs
A Nature study by UC San Diego researchers demonstrates that teleoperated humanoid robots can perform complex minimally invasive surgery. Using a Unitree G1 humanoid controlled via a remote teleoperation platform, surgeons successfully completed two laparoscopic gallbladder removals in live pigs — the first in-vivo laparoscopic procedures performed by a humanoid robot. The study tested whether lower-cost general-purpose humanoids could serve as flexible alternatives to specialized surgical robots by operating within existing hospital infrastructure. Key limitations include higher latency, a less intuitive interface than the da Vinci system and an arm span of roughly 450mm versus 1.6–1.8m for an adult. Growing healthcare workforce shortages motivate the research.
Sources: MobiHealthNews Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Corner Health raises $32.5M for AI nurse practitioner platform
Corner Health, a platform enabling nurse practitioners to run independent primary care practices, has raised $32.5 million in seed and Series A funding led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from First Round Capital and Zigg Capital. The company's AI-powered operating system, Cora, automates billing, lab orders, scheduling, referrals, prior authorizations and patient communications for NPs in Arizona and Washington. Notably, Corner Health inverts the typical AI-in-healthcare premise: rather than helping clinicians see more patients, Cora allows providers to see fewer patients while spending two to three times more time with each one. Funding supports expansion into additional states amid a projected U.S. physician shortage of up to 86,000 by 2036.
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AI's toughest proving ground may be skilled nursing, says PointClickCare CEO
Skilled nursing facilities may be AI's most demanding proving ground, argues Dave Wessinger, CEO of PointClickCare. Unlike academic medical centers, SNFs offer no runway for technology that adds complexity on day one. Narrow margins, stretched staffing, complex residents and relentless documentation requirements force AI to deliver immediate burden reduction. Wessinger argues SNFs also offer something AI needs to mature: deep longitudinal records allowing systems to identify risk patterns and measure intervention outcomes. His message for healthcare CIOs: stop treating AI as a strategy and 'chase value, not AI,' asking whether technology reduces work, fits clinical workflows and improves decisions clinicians understand and trust.
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Telemedicine's identity crisis reshapes digital care strategy
Five years after the pandemic, healthcare CIOs are discovering that telemedicine has become less a standalone technology and more a component of broader digital care infrastructure, argues Angel Bozard, RN, chief nursing officer at virtual care company VirtuAlly. Virtual care has moved well past being a standalone service line and is becoming the standard of care embedded in clinical workflows alongside EHRs, remote monitoring and AI documentation. Bozard says virtual nursing programs can return roughly 120 minutes of documentation time per bedside nurse per shift. She expects AI to strengthen virtual care further, especially in behavioral health and addiction treatment where geography and stigma remain persistent barriers.
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Endeavor Health CIO: Digital transformation requires strong foundations before AI can deliver value
Endeavor Health CIO Deb Anderson argues that health systems must build durable technology foundations before expecting AI or other innovations to deliver lasting value. Rather than pursuing disconnected projects, Anderson calls for investing in reinforcing capabilities: infrastructure modernization, cyber resilience, enterprise platform consolidation and unified data and analytics. Endeavor Health is actively consolidating multiple EHR environments into a single enterprise platform — a move she describes as clinically and operationally driven, not merely an IT project. Anderson's broader message: technology strategy and business strategy have become inseparable. Organizations lacking strong foundational capabilities risk adding complexity rather than meaningful change when layering in new AI tools.
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Massive Bio and Sequence Me Now partner to expand cancer clinical trial access
Massive Bio, an AI-driven cancer clinical trial matching company, has partnered with patient advocacy organization Sequence Me Now to connect patients with oncology trials through reciprocal website links. The partnership addresses an access gap: the American Society of Clinical Oncology reports roughly 7% of U.S. cancer patients participate in treatment trials, with 56% of rural cancer patients having no trial availability at their care site. Massive Bio's platform uses AI to match patients to eligible trials based on specific biomarkers, while its physician-facing Trial Relay tool lets clinicians find trials and track enrollment at their institutions. The Patient Connect dashboard lets patients review personalized trial options directly.
Sources: MobiHealthNews Share ↗ ✉︎ Email 💬 Text
Curated by JD · samwise.agency