AI & Tech Newsletter

Opinion: Target 17 expires in seven weeks. Digital health has a part in what comes next.

Berne Gibbons. By 2026, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were to have “equal levels of digital inclusion”. That is Closing the Gap Target 17. The year ends in seven weeks. On the evidence, the target will be missed. The target is being rewritten. A Target 17 Refresh…

Zus Health Raises $33M to Make Healthcare More Connected

The Series B round was led by Drive Capital, with participation from Sanofi Ventures, HealthX Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), F-Prime, Maverick Ventures and JAZZ Venture Partners.

Biosensors and Wearables Among MedTech Showcased at INVEST Digital Health

[Sponsored] ARPA-H portfolio companies in the Innovation Showcase included biosensor and wearable startups to monitor vital signs and to obtain patient data previously only available through blood tests.

Older AI-estimated heart age linked to worse health outcomes

Having an older heart age estimated using artificial intelligence (AI) ultrasound analysis compared with actual age was associated with worse outcomes, according to results presented today at the ESC Digital & AI Summit 2026.

Spatial arrangement of inhibitory connections shapes brain network criticality

In neuroscience, the brain criticality hypothesis proposes that neurons in the brain are arranged in such a way that neural activity lies at or near a transition point between two extremes: an ordered state where neural activity dies out quickly and a disordered state where…

Windward Bio’s Stock Market Debut Reels In $225M for Better Biologic Drugs

Windward Bio’s next-generation antibody drugs for immunology caught the interest of Sanofi, which bought shares in a private placement alongside the biotech’s IPO. Windward’s lead drug candidate addresses the same target as a blockbuster asthma drug from partners Amgen and…

OpenAI board member worries an AI "takeover" of society could be months away

How do you think you're going to die? If you go by the current statistics for deaths in the US, it's reasonable to expect that cancer or heart disease will eventually get you. But OpenAI Foundation board member and Alignment Research Center Executive Director Paul Cristiano…

Wolters Kluwer Acquires AgileMD for Up to $100M to Embed UpToDate Expert AI and FDA-Cleared eCART Surveillance Inside EHR Workflows

What You Should Know Wolters Kluwer Health announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire San Francisco-based clinical decision support company AgileMD for up to $100M, comprising $40M in upfront cash and up to $60M in performance-based deferred consideration.…

What’s Missing from Healthcare Quality Conversations?

[Sponsored] Jason Tibbels, MD, Lantern Chief Medical Officer, described the company’s approach to making care more affordable without undermining quality or health outcomes in an interview with MedCity News Editor-in-Chief Arundhati Parmar at INVEST Digital Health.

Redesign Health Launches Dedicated Growth Equity Practice to Back Series A-to-Pre-IPO Healthcare AI Leaders

Pay Transparency in Life Sciences: Staying Ahead of Emerging Regulatory Complexity

In an industry characterized by intense competition for specialized and high-level talent and complex compensation structures, leaders must treat pay transparency not merely as a compliance requirement, but as a strategic priority requiring strong internal alignment across an…

VA and Department of War Go-Live on Oracle Health Information Network Under TEFCA

What You Should Know Oracle Health announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of War (DoW) went live on the Oracle Health Information Network on November 5, 2026. The Oracle Health Information Network operates as a designated Qualified Health…

Why AI-Assisted 100% Registry Review Is Essential for Clinical Data Integrity

Brent Dover, CEO, Carta Healthcare Hospitals are judged by numbers that begin with a person reading a chart. Surgical complications, cancer outcomes, cardiac and stroke measures, and many of the quality scores that shape public rankings all trace back to clinical registries.…

How AI Is Helping Care Teams Get Patients the Right Care, Sooner

From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients. Health systems and startups are putting it to work across healthcare, from matching patients to clinical trials to supporting radiologists, hospital…

XpertDox Raises $20M to Scale Neuro-Symbolic AI Medical Coding Across Thin-Margin Providers

What You Should Know Scottsdale, Arizona-based AI healthcare company XpertDox announced a $20M Series A investment round led by Savant Growth with funding from investment partner Kennet Partners. XpertDox’s flagship XpertCoding platform automates medical coding by converting…

R1 Expands Phare OS with Six Connected AI Modules Across $275B in Net Patient Revenue

What You Should Know Revenue cycle management leader R1 expands its Phare OS revenue operating system, uniting six connected agentic AI modules across pre-bill and post-bill hospital workflows. Four modules are commercially available immediately—Phare Auth (prior authorization)…

New surgical approaches aim to improve stomach cancer outcomes

Sometimes innovation in cancer care means developing something entirely new. Other times, it means returning to an old idea with the knowledge and tools to make it work better.

Opinion: Software in your service is already making decisions about patients. In December, you’ll have to disclose which ones

Naomi Alefelder. From 10 December 2026, private and not-for-profit health care providers must disclose the kinds of significant decisions their software makes or substantially shapes. Size is no exemption: the small business carve-out doesn’t apply to anyone who provides a…

Taranaki hospitals roll out RITA telehealth

Health NZ has introduced a mobile telehealth system at Taranaki Base and Hāwera hospitals, allowing clinicians to connect patients with specialists at other hospitals for bedside consultations. The Rapid Information Telehealth Assessment (RITA) system, developed in Northland and…

Is AI Really Saving Hospitals Money? A New Study Raises Questions About the Cost of AI-Driven Care

Healthcare systems are investing in AI to streamline workflows and save money, but a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that AI-generated care plans might actually cost far more than those ordered by physicians..

M&A: Elligint Health Acquires Laguna Health to Embed Conversational AI Across 13 Million Managed Lives

What You Should Know Care management and utilization management technology provider Elligint Health announced that it has acquired conversational AI company Laguna Health. Laguna Health will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Elligint Health, retaining its brand, product…

When the Enrollment Freeze Ends, Claim Review Takes Over — Small Providers Need Clear Rules

A large health system absorbs an appeal as routine. For a small agency with a few office staff, every hour chasing a physician signature or a face-to-face note is an hour not spent on patients.

STAT+: New documents raise more questions about Medicare’s AI prior-authorization experiment

Y ou’re reading the web edition of STAT’s Health Tech newsletter, our guide to how technology is transforming the life sciences. Sign up to get it delivered in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. Good morning health tech readers! With HLTH around the corner, the news is…

Beyond Metrics: How to Repair Our Relationship With Wearables

Users are, rightfully, upset that the devices they bought are not delivering the results they were promised. But is that indignation pointed at the right flaw?