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<td><span style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;">Health Tech | Fierce Healthcare</span></td>
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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/health-tech-weekly-rundown-prime-healthcare-collette-health-partner-virtual-sitting" 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;">Health Tech Weekly Rundown: CVS studies digital health divide</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 22nd 2026, 13:47</div>
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<p><div class="col content" morss_own_score="5.295774647887324" morss_score="84.60232985513218">
<p>Stay up to date on the latest in health tech, digital health and health AI news with this weekly brief. This is news from the week of May 18 to May 22. </p>
<h3><strong>Hyro, Five9 partner to speed up agentic healthcare AI integration</strong></h3>
<p>Agentic AI healthcare platform Hyro <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hyro-partners-with-five9-to-deliver-healthcare-specific-ai-agents-to-contact-centers-cutting-integration-time-to-one-hour-302777030.html">announced</a> a partnership with Five9 to integrate its native AI agents within Five9’s Intelligent Cloud Contact Center.</p>
<p>The partnership establishes Hyro as the only Five9-accredited healthcare specific vendor to date. It will allow health organizations to “seamlessly automate complex patient interactions at scale” and shorten integration times, the companies said in a May 20 press release.</p>
<p>"At Five9, our goal is to empower organizations with the most intelligent CX solutions available, and AI Agent Connect allows for just that," said Jess Shea, senior partner manager at Five9. "As our first healthcare-specific accredited vendor, Hyro brings immense specialized value to our mutual clients. Health systems no longer have to compromise between a robust contact center platform and vertical-specific agentic AI. This partnership makes it incredibly simple and fast for healthcare organizations to plug in an AI agent built specifically for their needs."</p>
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<h3><strong>Garner Health Technology, Atlantic Health partner to improve affordability, care access</strong></h3>
<p>Morristown, N.J.-based Atlantic Health is <a href="https://www.atlantichealth.org/press-releases/2026/atlantic-and-garner-health-improve-healthcare-affordability">partnering</a> with Garner Health Technology to better connect patients to quality care at lower costs.</p>
<p>Through the partnership, Garner will aid employees at participating employers to “more easily find” clinicians at Atlantic Health. In turn, Atlantic will use Garner data to inform quality improvement work. </p>
<p>Garner’s data includes more than 60 billion medical records from 320 million patients, according to a May 19 press release.</p>
<p>“Atlantic Health is committed to providing better outcomes at a lower cost,” said Saad Ehtisham, Atlantic Health president and CEO, in a statement. “As leaders in value-based care through our accountable care organizations, exciting partnerships – like the one we are announcing today with Garner – demonstrate that we are challenging ourselves to lead the nation in bending the cost curve for patients and their families.”</p>
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<h3><strong>Prime Healthcare taps Collette Health for virtual sitting tech</strong></h3>
<p>Prime Healthcare entered into a <a href="https://www.collettehealth.com/2026/05/19/collette-health-prime-healthcare-virtual-nursing-partnership/">strategic partnership</a> with Colette Health to expand virtual sitting technology across the non-profit system, aiming to improve patient safety. </p>
<p>A pilot with Collette’s technology at Prime’s National City, Calif.-based Paradise Valley Hospital saw an 84% reduction in patient falls on medical surgical units, prompting the partnership. The 55-hospital health system also plans to expand from virtual observation to comprehensive virtual nursing programs. </p>
<p>Collette Health CEO Holly Miller said in the May 19 announcement the partnership “exemplifies how virtual observation serves as the strategic foundation for comprehensive virtual care transformation.”</p>
<p>“Prime Healthcare’s commitment to expanding this proven technology across their network demonstrates the power of the value-based entry point approach: starting with virtual observation success and building toward full virtual nursing capabilities that enable additional use cases as they scale,” Miller said. “When healthcare leaders see measurable safety improvements and cost savings, they gain the confidence to scale virtual care enterprise-wide.”</p>
<p>Collette Health has partnered with more than 185 hospitals across the U.S. and delivered $3.96 billion in savings, according to the announcement.</p>
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<h3><strong>CVS Health whitepaper examines Medicare members’ digital health needs</strong></h3>
<p>More than seven in 10 Medicare members report feeling confusion or uncertainty when navigating online health information, a new <a href="https://www.cvshealth.com/news/innovation/helping-seniors-navigate-digital-first-health-care.html">whitepaper</a> from CVS Health found. </p>
<p>The research (<a href="https://www.cvshealth.com/content/dam/enterprise/cvs-enterprise/pdfs/2026/Whitepaper_Digital_Health_Literacy.pdf">PDF</a>) drew insights from Medicare-eligible consumers through surveys, interviews and ethnographic studies. </p>
<p>Seventy-one percent of respondents report an eagerness to use more digital health care tools and 86% report an eagerness to use them. However, 58% of respondents report low digital health literacy is negatively impacting their ability to manage their health. </p>
<p>“We're caring for the fastest-growing and most clinically complex population in the country, and what we found in the research challenges a common assumption—older adults actually are more open to engaging with technology than many think," said Dr. Benjamin Kornitzer, M.D., Aetna senior vice president and CMO, in a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cvs-health-study-reveals-a-need-for-greater-digital-health-literacy-for-medicare-members-302774017.html">statement</a>. "It creates a real opportunity to meet them where they are and provide day to day support, whether it's managing medications, following up after a visit, or staying on track with chronic conditions. Technology and engagement can help them live healthier, more independent lives."</p>
<p>As a result, CVS said it is applying insights from the research across its digital offerings, including clearer navigation, stronger accessibility features and added privacy and security transparency. </p>
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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/ai-and-machine-learning/ksana-health-awarded-179m-build-behavioral-health-llm" 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;">Ksana Health to build mental health LLM in fed-funded project</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 22nd 2026, 13:47</div>
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<p><div class="col content" morss_own_score="5.329032258064516" morss_score="40.6987640588308">
<p>Eugene, Ore.-based Ksana Health is <a href="https://ksanahealth.com/post/ksana-health-awarded-arpa-h-contract-to-build-a-behavioral-health-foundation-model/">undertaking</a> a multi-institutional research effort aimed at creating a new class of artificial intelligence to advance mental health and substance use disorder treatment and prevention.</p>
<p>The software company was awarded a $17.9 million contract by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a Large Health Behavior Model (LHBM). Its goal is to train AI models on smartphones and other wearables data, including sleep, mobility and language use linked to large scale electronic health records (EHRs).</p>
<p>“This initiative augments Ksana’s current efforts to shift behavioral healthcare from episodic, subjective assessment toward continuous, data-driven health promotion, reducing healthcare spending, improving quality of life, and reaching populations that currently lack access to effective behavioral health support,” said Tony Scripa, Ksana Health COO and project co-investigator, in a statement. </p>
<p>In April, HHS <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/arpa-h-announces-research-teams-initiative-transform-behavioral-health.html">announced</a> the first set of research teams as part of its Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health’s (ARPA-H) Evidence-Based Validation & Innovation for Rapid Therapeutics in Behavioral Health (EVIDENT) initiative. Other participants include Duke University, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Yale Stress Center.</p>
<p>Ksana’s project is set to be completed in phases, beginning with a “proof-of-concept” study and pilot data collection, according to the announcement. It will then scale to tens of thousands of participants across multiple health systems. </p>
<p>Participating health systems include Providence, MedStar Health and the University of Washington. Providence and Medstar will lead participant recruitment while the University of Washington will lead computational modeling work. </p>
<p>Recruitment will begin across Providence this summer, with all patients 18 years and older eligible for participation, the Reno, Wash.-based health system said in a May 14 press release.</p>
<p>Staci Wendt, Ph.D., director of research for the Providence Health Research Accelerator, said participants will download Ksana’s app and participate in activities for three months—and consent to have EHRs included.</p>
<p>“Behavioral factors are a leading cause in a large majority of patient conditions that the health care industry treats,” said Bill Wright, Ph.D., Providence chief research officer, in a statement. “Given the proliferation of smart phones and watches, if we can harness the sensing capabilities of those devices and link behavioral signals to patient health records, we can build a new model of personalized, proactive behavioral health care. This innovation be a major component of the delivery model of the future.”</p>
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<td><a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/broken-pipeline-mental-healthcare-lgbtq-teenagers-0" 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;">Latest "Podnosis" episode: The broken pipeline of mental healthcare for LGBTQ teenagers</a>
<div style="font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align:left;color:#999;font-size:11px;font-weight:bold;line-height:15px;">May 22nd 2026, 13:47</div>
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<a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers">Providers</a>
<h1>The broken pipeline of mental healthcare for LGBTQ teenagers</h1>
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By
<a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/person/anastassia-gliadkovskaya">
<span>Anastassia Gliadkovskaya, </span>
</a>
<a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/person/sam-donndelinger">
<span>Sam Donndelinger</span>
</a>
<span>May 20, 2026 9:40am</span>
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<p>As almost 1 in 4 American teens identify as LGBTQ, affirming therapy can be life-saving. Yet availability is shrinking. Access to mental healthcare for LGBTQ youth dropped from 80% to 60% from late 2023 to late 2024, according to <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/project-spark-interim-report-a-longitudinal-study/#:~:text=Sexual-orientation%20discrimination%20was%20high,to%2060%25%20the%20following%20year." title="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/project-spark-interim-report-a-longitudinal-study/#:~:text=sexual%2dorientation%20discrimination%20was%20high,to%2060%25%20the%20following%20year.">The Trevor Project</a>. In 2025, though 84% of LGBTQ youth <a href="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2025" title="https://www.thetrevorproject.org/survey-2025">wanted</a> mental healthcare, 44% could not get it. </p>
<p>In a recent collaboration between Fierce Healthcare and Uncloseted Media, Anastassia Gliadkovskaya and Sam Donndelinger dive into the barriers to mental health access for queer youth.</p>
<p>In this week’s episode of “Podnosis,” they discuss their reporting process and introduce listeners to trans teens and the experts featured in the project.</p>
<p>Read the full story at <a href="http://fiercehealthcare.com/" title="http://fiercehealthcare.com/">FierceHealthcare.com</a> or <a href="https://www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/americas-broken-pipeline-of-mental" title="https://www.unclosetedmedia.com/p/americas-broken-pipeline-of-mental">UnclosetedMedia.com</a>.</p>
<h4>To learn more about the topics in this episode: </h4>
<h4>To Listen to More Episodes of Podnosis</h4>
<a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/resource/products/podcast">
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<p><strong>Forwarded by:<br />
Michael Reeder LCPC<br />
Baltimore, MD</strong></p>
<p><strong>This information is taken from free public RSS feeds published by each organization for the purpose of public distribution. Readers are linked back to the article content on each organization's website. This email is an unaffiliated unofficial redistribution of this freely provided content from the publishers. </strong></p>
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