Samwise Healthcare IT Newsletter
Tuesday, July 28, 2026
AnMed Given 72 Hours to Respond to Ransomware Demands as 80 Facilities Close
AnMed, a nonprofit health system serving upstate South Carolina and northeast Georgia, suffered a malware attack Sunday that knocked out IT systems across the network. Roughly 80 of 106 facilities were closed Monday, including all imaging services, oncology, radiation care and the AnMed Medical Group, while urgent care, labs and emergency departments remained open. All elective procedures scheduled for the day were canceled. A patient reported a ransom demand displayed on hospital computers: “AnMed has 72 hours to pay, and if not, everybody’s information would be leaked.” The system is working with third-party cybersecurity specialists and state and federal authorities.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
AI Misdiagnoses Raise New Liability Questions for Health Systems
A Florida lawsuit alleging that AI contributed to a patient’s delayed cancer diagnosis is spotlighting liability questions health systems have been reluctant to confront. Medical malpractice attorney Rick Groffsky of Sommers Schwartz says hospitals should assume AI-related litigation is coming and prepare now. Courts will continue to hold physicians responsible for independent clinical judgment — “an AI tool is one more input, but not a replacement for it” — but hospitals that deployed tools they never adequately validated will also face scrutiny. Documentation becomes a double-edged sword: override a correct AI warning and the record works against you; defer to a flawed recommendation and the law still demands clinical accountability.
Sources: Healthcare IT News
HHS Joins White House Genesis Mission to Harness AI for Chronic Disease Research
HHS has joined the White House’s Genesis Mission to use artificial intelligence and advanced computing to tackle chronic disease. Working with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the agency will launch National Science and Technology Challenges directing researchers to apply AI to major health problems. The NIH-led Bio Genesis Mission aims to cut in half the time required for scientific discoveries to reach patients by analyzing large biomedical datasets. Chronic disease identification, pediatric cancer and drug-development acceleration are the three initial challenge areas. NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said the program will “uncover the root causes of disease” and “deliver lifesaving innovations to patients faster.”
Sources: Healthcare IT News
CPA Gets Four Years in Prison for $5.3M Email Compromise Scheme Targeting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
A former certified public accountant will serve four years in federal prison for his role in a $5.3 million money laundering scheme targeting Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Ronald Deabler was convicted in a federal jury trial in February 2026 after a hacker compromised a healthcare vendor’s email account and used it to instruct CHOA to redirect a payment to a fraudulent bank account. Deabler laundered the diverted funds. The case illustrates how email compromise attacks bypass clinical systems entirely, exploiting trusted vendor relationships to divert payments — a threat that has become one of the most financially damaging forms of healthcare fraud.
Sources: GovInfoSecurity
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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