Untreated dental problems are driving millions of Americans to emergency rooms each year, costing the country billions and worsening chronic health conditions. Experts say bridging the historic divide between medical and dental care — through data connectivity, integrated health centers and AI-driven tools — could improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare spending.
March has seen a slew of executive hires, exits and layoffs across the healthcare industry. For instance, Flare Capital Partners, SCAN Group and Advocate Health named new executives. There were also layoffs at organizations including Oracle, Takeda and Blue Shield of California.
Zelis highlights how employers, payers, and consumers are integrating digital tools to manage healthcare costs.
Michael Meucci, CEO of health data platform Arcadia, thinks health systems are changing their thinking about ROI when it comes to AI projects. As providers face tighter budgets, he said they’re broadening how they measure AI’s ROI, including benefits like reducing clinician burnout.
Fawad Butt, CEO of Penguin Ai, gave his candid thoughts on where the healthcare AI market is headed, including how data leakage could be fueling smarter AI models and the limits of agentic AI in enterprise settings.
Adonis raised a $40 million Series C funding round to help hospitals use AI to tackle denied and underpaid claims. Its platform automates manual revenue cycle tasks and provides real-time insights, which allows staff to focus on higher-value work. Customers include Mount Sinai Health System, Baptist Health South Florida, AdventHealth and ApolloMD.
At Wayne General Hospital in rural Mississippi, clinicians are using Eko Health’s AI-powered digital stethoscope to detect heart conditions earlier in patients with limited access to specialists.
Arbiter’s Anjali Jameson on hospital and payer alignment.
Rachel Springate, general partner at Muse Capital, said the next wave of healthcare startups will be driven by consumer demand — but pure direct-to-consumer models rarely work. Companies like Midi Health, Mavida Health and Mahmee are showing a different path: starting with patients, collecting outcomes data, and integrating with clinicians, payers and the broader healthcare system.
Utah is piloting an AI system developed by Doctronic to autonomously handle routine prescription refills, aiming to reduce delays and boost medication adherence. But a report from Mindgard AI claiming that there are vulnerabilities in the company’s chatbot underscores the broader challenge regulators and developers face in ensuring healthcare AI systems remain safe and reliable in real-world use.
Katie Jacobs Stanton, founder of Moxxie Ventures, shared some details of how she and her team evaluate healthcare AI startups. She stressed the need for founders with deep industry expertise, differentiated products and realistic distribution strategies.
Turquoise Health raised $40 million in a Series C round to expand beyond price transparency into managing healthcare contracts. The startup’s platform aims to simplify payer–provider agreements, reduce administrative waste and enable patients to see guaranteed upfront prices.
How to turn analytics into actual policy outcomes.
GuardDog Telehealth admitted it misrepresented its services to access patients’ health information, marking the first major concession in Epic’s lawsuit against Health Gorilla and other defendants accused of exploiting interoperability networks. The broader case is still ongoing.
Waiv, formerly the diagnostics division of AI biotech Owkin, developed AI-enabled testing technologies that found use in clinical settings and in cancer drug research. Spinning out as an independent company enables Waiv to pursue its own growth strategy, co-founder and CEO Meriem Sefta said.
Nitra announced that it raised $187 million in the past six months. The AI-powered platform — which is now used by more than 700 clinics — manages payments, procurement, inventory, scheduling and insurance verification in a single platform.
Valuing early-stage life sciences companies can be complex. Because product development can take several years and be capital intensive, obtaining an accurate valuation is essential to align management’s, the shareholders’, and current and potential investors’ understanding of estimated value.
Presbyterian Healthcare Services has rolled out an AI-powered precision care platform to 200 primary care providers, helping them review charts, identify care gaps and make faster treatment decisions. The tool is also designed to maximize each visit, especially for rural patients who travel long distances to receive care.