Patient Care

This page includes news coverage of various aspects of patient healthcare, including new technology innovations, what is working, what is not, personalized medicine and remote and telemedicine delivery. Find specific news in the areas of Care Delivery, Digital Transformation, Precision Medicine, Remote Monitoring and Telehealth.

Analysis: The public may not be wrong to think of the ED as the ‘front door’ of the hospital
The perception is probably more pronounced in community hospital EDs than their academic counterparts.
Upfront costs of robotic heart surgery are high—but it may be a smart investment
Makoto Hashimoto, MD, PhD, said robotic procedures are associated with a faster recovery time and many other potential benefits.
What’s eating healthcare AI? Not healthcare AI itself
When AI fails to thrive in healthcare, the problem is usually not with an algorithm. It’s with something deeper. Three unrelated opinion pieces authored by far-flung subject matter experts hit on this theme just this week.
FDA adds surgical sponges, strips to list of shortages after Medline recall
Regulators said the shortages of neurosurgery devices are likely to extend until the end of the year. Medline recalled its neurosurgical patties due to a potential toxicity issue. The FDA said it's looking for alternatives.
State sues AI company after bot impersonates doctor
The digital entity gave at least one end-user a phony medical-license number. Unfortunately for the chatbot, that end-user was a state investigator.

Analysis: The public may not be wrong to think of the ED as the ‘front door’ of the hospital

The perception is probably more pronounced in community hospital EDs than their academic counterparts.

Video of Makoto Hashimoto, MD, PhD, professor and director of robotic cardiac surgery at Florida International University, Baptist Health, who presented a study on robotic surgery outcomes and costs at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) 2026 annual meeting this week. While the costs of these minimally invasive robotic procedures is higher that traditional surgical procedures, he said costs overall can be reduced in terms of faster patient recovery, shorter length of stays.

Upfront costs of robotic heart surgery are high—but it may be a smart investment

Makoto Hashimoto, MD, PhD, said robotic procedures are associated with a faster recovery time and many other potential benefits.

What’s eating healthcare AI? Not healthcare AI itself

When AI fails to thrive in healthcare, the problem is usually not with an algorithm. It’s with something deeper. Three unrelated opinion pieces authored by far-flung subject matter experts hit on this theme just this week.

FDA adds surgical sponges, strips to list of shortages after Medline recall

Regulators said the shortages of neurosurgery devices are likely to extend until the end of the year. Medline recalled its neurosurgical patties due to a potential toxicity issue. The FDA said it's looking for alternatives.

State sues AI company after bot impersonates doctor

The digital entity gave at least one end-user a phony medical-license number. Unfortunately for the chatbot, that end-user was a state investigator.

UnitedHealthcare looks to reduce prior authorizations by 30% before end of 2026

The insurance arm of UnitedHealth Group said the shift is part of its ongoing effort to eliminate the barriers between care delivery and medical coverage. The full list of services exempt from prior authorizations includes diagnostic tests and many outpatient surgeries.

Blame towering market power for soaring hospital prices: Healthcare affordability specialist

“When hospitals that were once competitors merge, prices go up—often by double-digit percentages—with no measurable improvement in patient outcomes.”

5-year checkup shows ‘hospital at home’ healthy but siloed

Hospital-at-home inpatient care is no worse than its traditional counterpart at facilitating good clinical outcomes for reasonable overall costs. In fact “HaH” is sometimes considerably better on both those scores.