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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/chutes-ladders-2026-hires-departures-firings-retirements-ceo-executives-healthcare" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Chutes & Ladders—Vanderbilt Health CEO to retire at year's end</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 16th 2026, 13:44</div>
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<p><div class="col content" morss_own_score="5.954792800334868" morss_score="232.07861130209454">
<p><em>Welcome to this week's Chutes & Ladders, our roundup of hirings, firings and retirings throughout the industry. Please </em><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/fiercehealthcarecom/chutes-and-ladders-submissions"><em>submit</em></a><em> the good news—or the bad—from your shop, and we will feature it here each week.</em></p>
<hr><h3>Week of March 9</h3><p><strong>> Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., </strong>is retiring from his roles as CEO of Vanderbilt Health and dean of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine at the end of 2026.</p>
<p>The academic system's board of directors has kicked of a national search for a successor who would hold both titles, according to the March 12 announcement. </p>
<p>A 1990 Vanderbilt graduate himself, Balser spent years as a cardiac anesthesiologist and surgical intensivist at Johns Hopkins before returning to Vanderbilt in 1998. He was named chair of the Department of Anesthesiology in 2001, dean of the medical school in 2008 and head of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2009. He has served as dean and in the health system's top executive role for the past 17 years. </p>
<p>The organization has grown from a four-hospital system to an eight-hospital system under his tenure, during which its annual net revenue also grew from around $2 billion to nearly $9 billion, according to the announcement. Part of that time was an effort he led to legally and financially separate the medical center and its system from the university as a standalone nonprofit. The organization's cash reserves also have also grown from 50 days to more than 110, with total cash on hand plus investments now exceeding $3 billion.</p>
<p><strong>> Greg Hoffman</strong>, chief financial officer of<strong> Providence</strong>, will retire in June, the organization announced. </p>
<p>Hoffman has been with the major nonprofit system for over a decade, and served as CFO for the past five years. His tenure in the role is marked by a multi-year financial turnaround that finally brought operations into the black during the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025. The announcement of his retirement also pointed to his role striking up new strategic partnerships, resetting contracts with commercial payers and heading the implementation of an enterprise resource planning system. </p>
<p>Providence said it plans to conduct an internal and national search for Hoffman's replacement.</p>
<hr><h3>Week of March 2</h3><p><strong>> Kevin Tabb</strong>, M.D., president and CEO of <strong>Beth Israel Lahey Health</strong>, has given notice to the system's board that he plans to step down after this year.</p>
<p>The physician executive was tapped as CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess in 2011, and stayed at the top through its merger with fellow Massachusetts provider Lahey Health in 2019. Today the organization spans 14 hospitals, employs 42,000 people and cares for 1.7 million patients annually. </p>
<p>Alongside navigating the merger and a pandemic, Tabb is credited with advancing initiatives around care access and connecting services delivered between its locations. Beth Israel Lahey also notched new partnerships: a teaching relationship with UMass Chan School of Medicine and an upcoming cancer collaboration with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. </p>
<p>Tabb will remain in his role while the system's board searches for his successor, a process expected to take about eight to 10 months, according to the announcement.</p>
<p><strong>> </strong>Health tech company <strong>Stellar Health</strong> has added <strong>Raul Smith</strong>, a veteran of Elevance Health, as its chief financial officer.</p>
<p>Smith has 20 years of experience in healthcare leadership, according to an <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stellar-health-names-former-elevance-142800375.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFEYrRQvBR0XjlHZHh0K8tzpaMFSix8mFHSJ-LKi8XrnOUxq0bT5rkzAwmoFaXIPZqX7Q1seVagqncSjXBOOm4U19yhqk3Qw9yvngduA_7wwq74Pa3H6LaTldv7ZtaSXb9YxDinQbOHppZ8RnUxRUZRUHtk-tnxxzGUysjiTUEU5">announcement</a>, including six years as president CFO for Anthem's East Region. He has also served as CFO for Duo Health and Gold Kidney Health Plan.</p>
<p>Stellar said that Smith's experience in the health insurance industry will help the company build out its platform. Stellar supports payers in value-based care by making it easier for providers to engage with these complex environments.</p>
<p>In addition, he'll play a key role in driving the financial evolution of its risk-based portfolio, including the tech-enabled accountable care organization, shaco.</p>
<p>"Stellar is already setting the pace for value-based care, and Raul adds the institutional caliber to match our growing scale," said Michael Meng, CEO and cofounder of Stellar Health. "Raul brings the financial authority to stand behind the definitive value we deliver to our payor partners. His leadership solidifies that our ROI is absolute and verifiable—impact that will only continue to compound and get better year over year."</p>
<p><strong>> Wellpoint Tennessee</strong>, an <strong>Elevance Health</strong> subsidiary, has named <strong>Rachel Chinetti</strong> as president of its health plan.</p>
<p>As president, Chinetti will be tasked with leading the insurer's strategy and operations across the state, including a focus on affordability, access and quality for individuals enrolled in TennCare, its Medicaid program.</p>
<p>She brings almost two decades of experience in Medicaid and long-term services and supports (LTSS) to the role, per an announcement from the insurer. Chinetti has held multiple roles within TennCare and most recently served as a staff vice president within Elevance Health's government unit, where she led a center of excellence in LTSS.</p>
<p>Chinetti is also a native of the state who lives in Nashville, with strong community relationships, the company said.</p>
<p>“It is an honor to serve Tennesseans in this role,” Chinetti said in the release. “Wellpoint Tennessee has a strong legacy of partnership and innovation. I look forward to working alongside TennCare, providers, advocates, and community leaders to strengthen rural and maternal health, enhance long-term services and supports, and deliver more coordinated, person-centered care that helps our members live healthier, more independent lives.”</p>
<hr><h3>Week of Feb. 16</h3><p><strong>> James Downing, </strong>M.D., will be stepping down from his role as president and CEO of <strong>St. Jude Children's Research Hospital</strong> near the end of 2026, the pediatric research hospital announced.</p>
<p>The physician executive has been with the organization for four decades, and has sat at its head for the past 12 years. Under his leadership St. Jude underwent the largest strategic expansion in its history, which included the completion of two separate strategic plans requiring nearly $20 billion of investment and over 2,300 new positions; major expansion to St. Jude's main campus; and greater international collaboration. </p>
<p>Prior to that he served as scientific director for eight years, a period in which he spearheaded the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project.</p>
<p>Downing plans to transition into a faculty role at St. Jude's Department of Global Pediatric Medicine after handing over the reins. The organization said a replacement is expected to be named over the summer. </p>
<p>“I’ve watched St. Jude transform the care of pediatric cancer around the world, and I’m grateful to have played a small part as its CEO," he said in the announcement. "It has been the honor of a lifetime to wake up every day and know that I have a purpose, to be a part of this workforce, and to change the outlook for children everywhere.”</p>
<hr><h3>Week of Feb. 9</h3><p><strong>>The Department of Health and Human Services </strong>announced several leadership changes as the agency looks to advance Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make American Healthy Again agenda.</p>
<p>HHS said that <strong>Chris Klomp</strong> will step into the role of chief counselor at the agency, where he will "oversee all operations of the department." Klomp currently serves as the director of Medicare. </p>
<p>In addition, both Politico and the Washington Post have <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/02/13/rfk-jr-health-department-shake-up/">reported</a> that <strong>Jim O'Neill</strong>, deputy secretary of HHS and the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will step down from both roles. Sources told the Post that O'Neill will be offered a position as an ambassador.</p>
<p>The Post reported that the shakeup comes amid significant controversy over the shift at HHS in vaccine policy and other hot-button topics. Kennedy is looking to shift talking points to more politically palatable topics, like healthy food, per the Post.</p>
<p>In addition to the new title for Klomp, Kennedy has tapped <strong>Kyle Diamantas </strong>and <strong>Grace Graham</strong> to serve as senior counselors for the <strong>Food and Drug Administration</strong> as well as <strong>John Brooks</strong> to step in as senior counselor for the <strong>Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.</strong></p>
<p>HHS said that each of these three will also continue to hold their current roles in addition to supporting Kennedy's office.</p>
<p>"I am proud to elevate battle-tested, principled leaders onto my immediate team—individuals with the courage and experience to help us move faster and go further as we work to Make America Healthy Again," Kennedy said in the press release.</p>
<hr><h3>Week of Jan. 12</h3><p><strong>>The Federation of American Hospitals</strong> <a href="https://fah.org/blog/fah-announces-new-executive-team-under-president-ceo-charlene-macdonald/?media-center=true">announced</a> multiple leadership appointments this week.</p>
<p>The organization's new CEO, <strong>Charlene MacDonald</strong>, took the role on Jan. 1, and on Jan. 14, FAH revealed the names of key members of her team, including:</p>
<ul><li><strong>Tilithia McBride</strong>, chief operating officer</li><li><strong>Adam Broder, </strong>chief strategy officer</li><li><strong>Alyssa Keefe,</strong> senior vice president and head of policy</li><li><strong>Katie Tenoever</strong>, senior vice president and general counsel.</li></ul><p>McBride brings more than 25 years of overall healthcare experience to the COO role, including more than four years at FAH as its leading voice on patient safety, quality and public health. Broder has been at FAH for more than two years, and will take on an expanded role as chief strategy officer, spearheading efforts to support the organization's mission as well as its long-term stability and growth.</p>
<p>Keefe joined FAH in December 2024 and has more than two decades of policy experience, both at the state and federal levels. Tenoever will continue in the general counsel role, and has held similar titles at other trade associations, FAH said.</p>
<p>“Our exceptional new executive team will be integral to the Federation’s success as we write our next chapter,” MacDonald said in the announcement<strong>. </strong>“We’re at a critical moment for health care coverage and access, and our team’s proven ability to be strategic, nimble, and relentlessly solutions-oriented will allow the Federation to deliver for our members and the millions of patients they serve.”</p>
<hr><h3>Week of Jan. 5</h3><p><strong>>Eduardo Conrado</strong> stepped into the CEO chair at <strong>Ascension</strong> on Jan. 1, taking over for the retiring Joseph Impicciche.</p>
<p>Conrado has been the major health system's president since 2023, and continues to hold that title. He joined in 2018 to serve in digital, strategy and innovation positions. Prior to that, he’d spent 26 years at Motorola Solutions and served on Ascension’s board for five years. </p>
<p>In a blog post published this week, Conrado said his focus as CEO will be for Ascension to strengthen access to care, modernize care delivery and deepen commitments to those most in need—achieved through a combination of mission-driven strategy, capital deployment and talent. </p>
<p>><strong>Jesse Ehrenfeld</strong>, M.D., has joined clinical AI company <strong>Aidoc</strong> as its new chief medical officer. </p>
<p>Ehrenfeld, a board-certified anesthesiologist and clinical informaticist, steps into the role after a stint as president of the American Medical Association. There, he led advocacy on issues like physician wellbeing and the responsible use of AI in clinical care. His new post will keep to those subjects as he supports Aidoc's health system customers. </p>
<p>“It’s clear that Aidoc’s success to date has been rooted in building technology physicians trust," he said in a release. "I’m joining to help scale that impact, ensuring that clinical AI continues to be a seamless, essential part of the modern care delivery model.”</p>
<p><strong>>Abhi Rastogi</strong> took on the roles of president and CEO at <strong>Temple Health</strong> on January 2, taking over for Michael Young, who retired. </p>
<p>Rastogi has been with the organization for more than 20 years. He most recently served as the president and CEO of Temple University Hospital and its campuses, as well as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the broader system. He's credited with delivering more than $100 million in annual impact via operational and financial improvements.</p>
<p> <strong>>Christian Pass </strong>was named chief financial officer of <strong>Keck Medicine of USC</strong>, and will officially begin the new role on Jan. 12. </p>
<p>He comes to the academic health system from Optum, where he was president of provider and payvider enterprise clients. Before that he had several senior financial leadership titles at John Muir Health that culminated in a chief financial officer role. </p>
<p>“Pass has more than 30 years of health care finance leadership experience with a proven history of cultivating high-performing teams and guiding organizations through critical financial and operational transformations,” Rod Hanners, CEO of Keck Medicine, said in a release. “He brings tremendous knowledge and skill to this position that will support the continued growth of the health system.”</p>
<p><strong>>Sarah Ness </strong>officially began her new job as president and CEO of <strong>PeaceHealth</strong> on Jan. 3. </p>
<p>Ness has been with the nine-hospital system for more than 20 years, most recently as its executive vice president and chief administrative officer. She's credited with leading organizational transformations within the system's culture, technology systems and operations. </p>
<p>She takes over for Liz Dunne, who had announced her retirement last year. </p>
<p><strong>>Chip Hubbs</strong>, the president CEO of Marysville, Ohio-based <strong>Memorial Health</strong>, shared plans to retire at the end of this year. </p>
<p>He's held the roles for nearly 22 years, and before that was the CEO of Community Memorial Hospital elsewhere in the state. "In all, Chip has worked for nine different hospitals throughout his career in every facet from groundskeeper and maintenance to intern, fellow, Evening Administrator, Executive Director, and CEO," according to the announcement. </p>
<p>Hubbs plans to work with the health system's board on a long-term strategy and transition plan during his final year in the office. </p>
<p><strong>>The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association</strong>, the lobbying group representing pharmacy benefit managers, has named longtime policy expert<strong> David Marin</strong> as its new CEO, succeeding J.C. Scott.</p>
<p>Marin will officially take the CEO chair on Jan. 20, according to <a href="https://www.pcmanet.org/press-releases/david-marin-named-president-and-ceo-of-pcma/01/08/2026/">a PCMA announcement</a>. He comes to the organization from drugmaker Viatris, where he was the global head of government affairs, public policy and advocacy. He also previously served as a managing principal at Podesta Group, where he led advocacy efforts for a slew of firms including the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Mylan.</p>
<p>He also held key staff roles on the Hill, according to the announcement.</p>
<p>“David Marin is the ideal leader for PCMA at a time of significant change in our industry,” said PCMA Board Chair Adam Kautzner, President of Express Scripts and Evernorth Care Management.</p>
<p>In addition to Marin's hire, PCMA announced that <strong>Brendan Buck</strong> will serve as the organization's new chief communications officer, also effective on Jan. 20. Buck joins PCMA from public affairs firm Seven Letter.</p>
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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/sponsored/reimagining-prior-authorization-increasing-transparency-stakeholders" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">Reimagining Prior Authorization: Increasing Transparency for Stakeholders</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 16th 2026, 13:44</div>
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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/driving-news-himss26-verily-samsung-ink-collaboration-meditechs-latest-ai-solutions" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">HIMSS26: Innovaccer tackles coding; Roy Schoenberg's new venture</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 16th 2026, 13:44</div>
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<p><div class="col content" morss_own_score="5.9763779527559056" morss_score="240.86419431743812">
<p>LAS VEGAS—Get caught up with the latest news from the 2026 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Global Health Conference & Exhibition with this quick news recap.</p>
<hr><h3><strong>Innovaccer aims to tackle medical coding with autonomous AI</strong></h3><p>Healthcare AI company has been building out AI solutions to automate manual tasks and streamline workflows for payers and providers.</p>
<p>Last year, it rolled out Flow Auth, an AI-powered prior authorization solution that is part of Flow by Innovaccer. This year at HIMSS, the company launched an autonomous medical coding solution.</p>
<p>Traditionally, health systems rely on a staff of coders and computer-assisted tools that still require a human to review every chart. But this model is under pressure as documentation grows more complex, there is a growing shortage of medical coders and payer rules constantly evolve.</p>
<p>Flow Capture autonomously codes approximately 80% of encounters without human intervention and routes the remaining complex cases to certified coders with full AI-assisted context, according to the company.</p>
<p>"Prior auths, referrals, coding, denial management and scribing, all of these products are combined into one stack that we are calling the autonomous healthcare stack," Abhinav Shashank, co-founder and CEO of Innovaccer, told Fierce Healthcare at HIMSS26.</p>
<p>Before a patient arrives for a medical visit, the Flow Capture solution generates a concise summary of the patient's history, active conditions and care gaps. During the visit, an ambient scribe captures the conversation and builds the note in real time, so the physician's full attention stays on the patient. As the encounter wraps up, a built-in CDI assistant closes documentation gaps before the note is signed, right when the evidence is still in the room. </p>
<p>When a physician signs an encounter note, Flow Capture reads the documentation, extracts clinical entities, maps diagnoses and procedures to ICD-10, CPT, HCPCS, and E/M codes, and applies current CMS and payer rules before submission, Innovaccer executives said/ Encounters that meet high-confidence thresholds, are coded and prepared for billing automatically, while edge cases are escalated with transparent reasoning and supporting references, according to the company.</p>
<p>Innovaccer is launching Flow Capture through a limited early adopter program with select health systems. Participants will pilot the solution across defined specialties and track measurable outcomes including first-pass rate, chart closure time and coder productivity.</p>
<p>The AI-based medical coding solution embeds payer and CMS logic directly into the coding engine, applying ICD-10-CM, CPT, HCPCS, NCCI edits, modifier logic, and evolving guideline updates before a claim is ever submitted. The company contends that every coding decision includes a clear audit trail and mapped medical decision-making rationale.</p>
<p>Coding teams focus on exceptions and clinical judgment, not repetitive validation, executives said.</p>
<p>“It's a massive win for our customers because these things used to take, for every system, hundreds of millions of dollars of cost structure, and suddenly you could direct those dollars into clinical care, rather than on the administrative things,” Shashank said. “For us, it’s been quite a bit of validation on what we've been building, that none of these things effectively work well unless you have a data infrastructure in place.”</p>
<p>With Innovaccer's prior authorization solution, healthcare organizations are reporting significant reductions in clinician time spent on prior authorizations, from minutes down to seconds, Shashank said.</p>
<p>Innovaccer is anticipating similar workflow improvements with the Flow Capture technology. “This process for the provider, used to be like a 10-minute process, and that 10 minutes is going to get to 15 seconds,” he noted.</p>
<p>"It's been quite a bit of validation on what we've been building, that none of these things effectively work well unless you have a core data infrastructure and interoperability infrastructure in place. As we bring agentic capabilities on top of our platform, the value creation for our customers is massive," Shashank said.</p>
<hr><h3><strong>Roy Schoenberg’s newest venture: AI-powered health companion for seniors</strong></h3><p>Health tech entrepreneur Roy Schoenberg, M.D. has played a pivotal role in the growth and adoption of digital healthcare. He co-founded American Well (now Amwell) with his brother in 2006, and the telehealth player has grown into one of the largest virtual care companies.</p>
<p>Schoenberg stepped down from his role as president and co-CEO at Amwell back in 2024 and essentially retired, he told Fierce Healthcare at HIMSS26. But the promise of AI brought him back to health tech. His latest venture, <a href="https://www.aileen.ai/">Aileen</a>, offers an AI-powered health companion focused on older adults.</p>
<p>While many companies have tried to bring innovation to senior care through devices and robotics combined with artificial intelligence, Schoenberg says Aileen has a different approach by focusing on developing intimate daily companionship with seniors.</p>
<p>Aileen interacts with seniors via regular incoming phone calls to provide companionship and caregiving support. Unlike solutions of the past that waited for the user to act, Aileen initiates contact and offers proactive, personalized support to help them stay safe, connected and confident in their own homes, according to the company.</p>
<p>With Amwell, Schoenberg tackled making healthcare more accessible through telehealth.</p>
<p>“AI, to me, represents another opportunity for another very big and tough nut to crack, which is the love and hate relationship between technology and really the people that need it most, who are seniors,” he told Fierce Healthcare in an interview. </p>
<p>AI can help address the mismatch between growing demand for senior care, especially to help combat isolation and loneliness, and the increasing shortage of senior caregivers, he noted.</p>
<p>As the U.S. population ages, the number of adults 65 and older living alone is growing. According to recent data, over 28% of adults age 65+ live alone. At the same time, the caregiver workforce is under unprecedented strain, with shortages projected to reach up to 8 million direct care workers by 2030, leaving many older adults without reliable support in daily life. This shortage has created an urgent need for sustainable, scalable, affordable solutions that augment—not replace—human caregiving.</p>
<p>“The vast majority of age tech is essentially taking the typical paternalistic view of healthcare, which is, essentially, we, the healthcare people, have the knowledge of what's good for you so we're going to tell you what to do. That doesn’t work,” he said. “Do we have the opportunity to actually change the way technology interfaces with seniors? Specifically, if we are to have a regular, influential role in their lives, maybe our first order of business is to become an indispensable part of their lives, and only then do we actually have a voice that they care to listen to, onto which we can communicate medication and primary care reminders.”</p>
<p>He added, “We need to be able to talk about their grandkids before we talk about medication lists or medication adherence.”</p>
<p>Through conversational AI and sentiment analysis, Aileen provides daily check-ins, casual conversation, light entertainment and reminders to build comfort and routine. Aileen also will give medication prompts, hydration nudges and tailored suggestions based on an individual’s health profile. Aileen engages seniors in casual conversations to support emotional well-being, social connectedness, cognitive engagement, and gentle health conversations. The AI assistant then learns from each interaction and reports back to caregivers.</p>
<p>“They don't have to download an app, they don't have to log in anywhere, they don't have to set up a device. They don't even have to have Wi-Fi. It calls them and talks to them. It's ntroduced to them by the kids or by their existing caregivers, and when they pick up the phone, the conversation doesn't sound like a healthcare conversation at all,” Schoenberg said.</p>
<p>When needed, Aileen can alert caregivers, trigger remote monitoring or escalate to live clinical intervention.</p>
<p>At HIMSS, Aileen announced a collaboration with deep tech and AI company <a href="https://www.cherishhealth.com/">Cherish</a> to offer a new senior care solution. Cheris built radar-based technology for elder care that continuously and ambiently monitors daily behaviors, including movement and sleep patterns, and deviations from daily routines—such as reduced motion or missed meals—while preserving people’s privacy.</p>
<p>The partnership will build on Cherish’s real-time behavioral insights to influence Aileen’s next conversation with the senior. For example, if Cherish detects that the senior hasn’t been to the refrigerator this morning, Aileen will follow with a gentle conversation about missing breakfast, appetite or the availability of food. If Cherish detects slower movement or an unusually late wake-up time, Aileen will ask about the late wake-up, energy levels, discomfort or even interest in scheduling a telehealth visit.</p>
<p>“We are introducing the notion of caregiving that doesn't require labor, that is working alongside the people that care for that senior, and that is focused squarely on how to become a meaningful companion to their life,” Schoenberg said.</p>
<p>Aileen will initially focus on deploying its technology through professional caregivers, primarily home care agencies and senior living operators, he noted. Schoenberg envisions that Aileen’s technology will eventually be offered direct-to-consumer to support families. The long-term vision is to work with insurance plans as well, he said.</p>
<hr><h3>Verily, Samsung team up to advance clinical research</h3><p>Samsung Electronics has been actively picking tech partners to advance its ambitions in healthcare as it unveiled a <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/samsung-bwell-connected-health-partner-kill-clipboard-key-cms">stepped-up partnership </a>with b.well Connected Health to scrap the patient clipboard and replace it with smartphones.</p>
<p>The electronics giant has now tapped Verily Life Sciences to combine wearable data and analytics to advance clinical research. The collaboration will bring together Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 8 with Verily’s precision health platform, Pre, to provide an integrated solution for generating evidence and monitoring real-world populations. This joint offering, a bundled solution, aims to accelerate research for life sciences and government customers by combining advanced health analytics with consumer-grade wearable data, the companies said.</p>
<p>Through this collaboration, Verily will fully integrate sensor data from the Samsung Galaxy Watch and make them accessible in its Viewpoint Evidence solution, which is built on the Verily Pre platform and enables research sponsors to run real-world studies with re-contactable participant cohorts. Sponsors will use Verily Pre data solutions including Refinery for data harmonization and Workbench for analysis, modeling and activation. Verily will provide artificial intelligence/machine learning based analytics and digital measure expertise paired with comprehensive clinical trial support across regulatory, development, operations and compliance.</p>
<p>The collaboration will enable researchers to combine Verily's longitudinal dataset from consenting participants with Samsung sensor data, medical records, surveys and other third-party data. Sponsors can run their own studies using Verily’s registry population, leveraging full longitudinal data to explore sleep, activity and health outcomes, the companies said.</p>
<p>Verily will recruit and engage Samsung users for research participation, driving consistent use and high-quality data capture while enabling meaningful research and health insights.</p>
<p>The companies will also explore potential joint development of new and enhanced end-to-end solutions for clinical research.</p>
<hr><h3>Meditech expands ambient listening capabilities </h3><p>Electronic health record company Meditech is expanding its Expanse AI portfolio with native ambient intelligence for physicians and nurses, the company announced Tuesday.</p>
<p>Meditech is integrating its native ambient intelligence solutions within the workflows of the Expanse Now mobile app for physicians and Expanse Point of Care app for nurses. These fully integrated solutions reduce documentation burden by capturing conversations in real time, automatically generating clinic visit notes and inpatient assessments and queuing next steps in workflow, according to the company.</p>
<p>“Meditech has been strategic in its application of artificial intelligence, focusing on areas where it can improve care delivery most,” said Cathy Turner, Meditech's chief nursing officer. "By integrating ambient listening into Meditech Expanse Point of Care, we’re helping our nurses capture assessment data through natural conversation. This is not just about efficiency, but it is a meaningful step toward supporting the human connection that’s at the center of exceptional nursing care."</p>
<p>The company also unveiled additional AI features including claim denials agents to streamline claim denial management and the appeals process. It generates a proposed action plan and drafts an evidence-based appeal with clinical data extracted from the EHR. </p>
<p>Meditech also developed an AI-powered assistant, MyHealth Assistant, integrated into the MyHealth patient portal that provides personalized and immediate support. And Meditech rolled out a new tool, called Ask Expanse, that lets clinicians ask questions via a chatbot interface at the point of care. </p>
<hr><h3>CoverMyMeds launches new specialty access and affordability solutions</h3><p>CoverMyMeds announced</p>
<p>The company developed the new solutions to offer a fully integrated medication access experience that brings benefits investigation, medical and pharmacy prior authorization and patient services enrollment together directly within the CoverMyMeds workflow, executives said.</p>
<p>CoverMyMeds aims to support any medication, from the most complex specialty therapies to traditional retail prescriptions, while reducing administrative work for care teams and improving the overall patient experience.</p>
<p>The company's new solutions expand automation across routine prior authorization workflows for medications covered under both medical and pharmacy benefits. An intelligent eligibility check routes each request to the appropriate benefit pathway for processing. It then automates the completion of enrollment and prior authorization forms leveraging clinical data from within the EHR and submits required documentation to insurance. This integrated capability maintains visibility for the provider during this process and can be integrated with hubs and specialty pharmacies that are also responsible for supporting patients getting on therapy, CoverMyMeds said.</p>
<p>Providers see fewer delays and more efficient workflows, while biopharma companies gain actionable insights to strengthen patient support programs and accelerate specialty therapy initiation, the company said.</p>
<hr><h3>Zoom announces new healthcare solutions</h3><p>Zoom, the web and video conferencing platform, is growing its footprint in healthcare with updated features and solutions.</p>
<p>The company is strengthening its electronic health record integrations, and its Zoom Contact Center is now available in Epic Toolbox. It will be generally available in April 2026. More than 300 healthcare organizations use Zoom’s CX solutions to power patient communication and support. The EHR integration deepens Zoom's ability to support large-scale adoption across hospitals, health systems and payer networks, the company said.</p>
<p>Zoom is also expanding its healthcare ecosystem with an Epic integration for Clinical Note. This enables clinicians to capture, review and finalize artificial-intelligence‑generated clinical notes without ever leaving Epic Haiku or Hyperspace. And Zoom Virtual Agent is now integrated with Epic, enabling healthcare organizations to automate routine patient inquiries across voice and chat channels and allowing clinicians to focus on higher-value, patient-centered care. </p>
<p>Zoom also is introducing new capabilities within Zoom Workplace for Frontline designed to streamline communication and coordination for clinical and operational teams. The enhanced solution, expected later in 2026, will enable teams to communicate instantly to close gaps with urgent messages, start every shift with clear visibility into who’s on duty and provide a single workspace for faster handoffs and collaboration. </p>
<hr><h3>RingCentral debuts AI agent for patient access workflows</h3><p>RingCentral, an artificial-intelligence-powered business communications company, unveiled a voice-first, omnichannel AI agent platform designed to automate high-volume patient access and administrative workflows across voice, SMS, video and messaging. </p>
<p>It marks an industry-specific application of AIR Pro, an agentic voice platform, that delivers production-ready AI agents optimized for the unique operational and regulatory requirements of healthcare organizations, the company said.</p>
<p>"AIR Pro for Healthcare acts as an intelligent digital front door—handling calls, verifying coverage, scheduling appointments, updating records, and coordinating care seamlessly across channels. By automating routine interactions securely and reliably, it frees staff to focus on delivering more connected, human-centered care," said Carson Hostetter, executive vice president and general manager, AI and CX solutions at RingCentral.</p>
<p>AIR Pro for Healthcare includes configurable, healthcare-specific accelerators with pre-built skills that automate common patient interactions. For example, when a patient calls to reschedule an appointment, AIR Pro can verify identity, access scheduling systems, evaluate provider availability, set appointment priorities and manage wait times, then recommend the best available options, RingCentral said. Once confirmed, the agent updates the appointment in the system of record and sends an SMS confirmation—all within a single interaction. </p>
<p>Pre-built skills include patient identity verification, intelligent call routing, appointment scheduling and rescheduling, patient check-in workflows, insurance verification, billing inquiries and patient intake and basic triage.</p>
<p>AIR Pro for Healthcare supports more than 80 integrations with electronic health record and healthcare management systems, including Epic, Oracle Health, athenahealth and eClinicalWorks.</p>
<p>Early pilot participants are testing AIR Pro for Healthcare to automate appointment management and common patient inquiries, enabling staff to focus on higher-value care coordination activities.</p>
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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/cms-unveils-new-model-aimed-functional-lifestyle-medicine" style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing:-1px;margin:0;padding:0 0 2px;font-weight: bold;font-size: 19px;line-height: 20px;color:#222;">CMS opens grant applications for lifestyle medicine model</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">Mar 16th 2026, 13:44</div>
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<p><div class="col content" morss_own_score="5.6225425950196595" morss_score="77.35271667625757">
<p><em>UPDATED: March 16 at 12:20 p.m. ET</em></p>
<p>The Trump administration has opened grant applications for a new model that aims to offer Medicare coverage to functional and lifestyle medicine providers.</p>
<p>The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveiled that Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence, or MAHA ELEVATE, in December. Interested participants seeking grants under the model must submit a Letter of Intent by April 10, with the final application deadline set for May 15.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/361494">funding notice</a> issued on March 13, the agency said it is planning to select 30 participants for the model to receive a collective $100 million of funding. CMS said that these participants will be split into two cohorts, one for the 2026 model year and one for 2027.</p>
<p>The agency intends to select the participants based on several key criteria, including the whole-person design of their model, including cost savings. CMS will also examine the budget of these interventions, their data management abilities, plans for beneficiary recruitment and administrative capacity.</p>
<p>"Given the model’s minimum beneficiary targets and extensive data management requirements, applicants who do not directly provide clinical care are strongly encouraged to form partnerships with care entities or organizations that deliver clinical care," per the notice.</p>
<p>CMS said the MAHA ELEVATE model aims to take a proactive stance to disease prevention, combining supports for physical health, psychological health and nutrition with personalized lifestyle options.</p>
<hr><p><em>PUBLISHED: Dec. 11 at 5 p.m. ET</em></p>
<p>The Trump administration has unveiled a new payment model that could extend Medicare coverage to functional or lifestyle medicine providers.</p>
<p>Under the Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence, or MAHA ELEVATE, model, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will make $100 million available to support as many as 30 proposals to promote health and preventive care in three-year agreements.</p>
<p>The CMS said on <a href="https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/innovation-models/maha-elevate">the landing page</a> for the model that it's meant to offer additional options to beneficiaries without replacing their medical services.</p>
<p>Abe Sutton, director of the the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, said in an accompanying video that the ultimate goal is to "empower people with Medicare to lead healthier lives" by addressing factors like nutrition, physical activity, sleep and stress.</p>
<p>"These programs will support innovative care that works alongside conventional medicine to prevent disease and improve quality of life without any added cost to people," Sutton said.</p>
<p>The CMS said it will launch the initial notice of funding opportunity for the model in early 2026 to secure the first group of participants, with the full launch set for September.</p>
<p>The agency added that the programs tested under the MAHA ELEVATE model will help inform future coverage determinations and offer critical feedback the CMMI can use to build future models.</p>
<p>The CMS unveiled MAHA ELEVATE shortly after <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/cmmi-debuts-access-model-spur-use-tech-chronic-disease-treatment">the announcement of its new ACCESS model</a>, which aims to encourage the use of technology in care for Medicare patients. The model has been positively received by health tech companies that have traditionally struggled with Medicare coverage.</p>
<p>The National Association of ACOs said it welcomes the new model in a statement.</p>
<p>"The funded proposals will help build the evidence base for preventive and integrative care strategies that are not currently covered under traditional Medicare," NAACOs said.</p>
<p>"Currently, many accountable care organizations use shared savings to provide patients interventions that are shown to help prevent or improve chronic conditions," the organization said. "These include physical activity and nutrition programs. We expect ACOs will be interested in pursuing this opportunity to build on their local efforts to help advance preventive and integrative care strategies that could shape future Medicare payment policies."</p>
<p>The Primary Care Collaborative offered similar support for the model.</p>
<p>“For decades, the American health system has prioritized incenting services rather than incenting health," said Ann Greiner, President and CEO of the PCC. “This announcement reflects a growing awareness that our current approach doesn't work. We're grateful that the Innovation Center is committed to a model that prioritizes capturing data for evidence-based interventions that support prevention, health promotion and chronic care management to shift our system to more holistic care.”</p>
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
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