Data Analytics

Hospitals and health systems use current and past data from its informatics systems to find trends, draw conclusions and identify the potential for improvement outcomes in patients and populations, and to support business decision-making. In patient care, data analytics can show areas  that need improvement, and bottlenecks to faster and more accurate diagnoses. On the business side, health system data can be leveraged to lower costs, maximize revenue, streamline and improve operations. Data is increasingly being used to look at the larger picture of population health to identify traits that can flag patients that may need additional resources to prevent readmissions. It can also help identify patients at high risk for some diseases that can be contacted about additional screenings for improved preventative care.

CDC: Pediatric COVID vaccines reduce ER trips by 76%

In a new data analysis from nine states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the protective effect tapers off as juveniles age, with 5-17 year olds seeing fewer trips to urgent care or the emergency room at a rate of 56%. Overall, the agency said evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccines are still effective.

Texas sues Epic for allegedly ‘gatekeeping’ children’s medical records

Paxton says the “woke” EHR giant is intentionally making it harder for patients and families to access historical medical data, violating state law. Epic denies the allegation.

Medicare money payment

CMS’ AI program to add prior authorizations to traditional Medicare; new bill aims to stop it

President Donald Trump’s administration argues that their “WISeR” model will eliminate unnecessary testing and save Medicare money. But eight Democrats opposing it think it will only bring Medicare Advantage chaos to Part A and Part B.

California State Capitol Sacramento

California chooses Innovaccer's AI to improve Medicaid outcomes for vulnerable populations

The company will analyze claims data from over 2 million people enrolled in Medi-Cal. The data will be used for compliance reporting and to improve patient care coordination.

Las Vegas

HLTH 25 in Las Vegas: News roundup from the annual conference

The 2025 HLTH convention in Las Vegas, held at the Venetian Expo Center, brought together vendors, researchers and healthcare providers for four days of presentations, panels, awards and industry announcements. Here's a selection of news from the show floor. 

Humana

Humana, Providence unveil interoperable data-sharing framework

The two companies said their model for exchanging payer and provider data will be “easily replicable” and could be adopted across the healthcare space. The initial rollout of the system will be focused on automatically identifying Medicare Advantage patients. 

artificial intelligence AI in healthcare

Report: Harvard Medical School data backing healthcare-focused Microsoft Copilot update

According to the Wall Street Journal, insider sources said a major update to Microsoft’s AI chatbot could be released before the end of the month, designed to be more reliable at answering medical queries.

mergers and acquisitions M&A puzzle

Healthcare market research firm Press Ganey scooped up in $6.75B AI merger

Qualtrics, which uses artificial intelligence to measure public satisfaction and consumer trends, is buying Press Ganey outright, citing the need for more healthcare-specific data to improve its technology.