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 DeliveryDigital TransformationPrecision MedicineRemote Monitoring and Telehealth.

Sutter Health

Sutter Health to scoop up Allina Health, form new $26B nonprofit health system

The two not-for-profit health systems announced the merger on Wednesday. Although the deal won’t be finalized for some time, they teased new investments that will bring 39 hospitals and more than 400 primary and specialty care sites under the banner of a new Sutter Health. 

FDA issues recall of imaging systems

FDA issues emergency alert on surgical stapler reloads after 1 death, 4 injuries

The problem is limited to surgical stapler reloads used by the da Vinci robot, specifically those manufactured by Intuitive Surgical. The FDA said it’s currently investigating why the reloads are leaving incomplete line formations. For now, they need to be pulled from all patient care settings. 

acute kidney injury after TAVR

Acute kidney injury after TAVR: Key risk factors every cardiologist should know

Multiple studies have linked acute kidney injury after TAVR to a heightened risk of short- and long-term mortality. 

prostate surgeon cancer PAE interventional

PSMA PET/CT imaging drastically reduces the need for prostate biopsies

Researchers recently presented early findings from the PRIMARY2 clinical trial at the European Association of Urology Congress in London. 

Bobby Kennedy Jr

ACIP meeting postponed after judge pauses RFK’s new vaccine recommendations

Judge Brian Murphy with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts sided with the American Academy of Pediatrics and other plaintiffs who challenged the authority of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr to effectively remove the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices from the process put in place to make changes to CDC vaccine recommendations. 

Afnan Tariq, MD, JD, FSCAI, FACC, an interventional cardiologist, assistant clinical professor of medicine at University of California, Irvine, presented first-in-man data on a passive, device-agnostic artificial intelligence (AI) platform for heart failure monitoring using consumer wearables at the recent Technology and Heart Failure Therapeutics (THT) 2026 meeting. The study showed the AI could help lower repeat hospitalizations.

AI turns wearable device data into actionable insights for heart failure patients

Afnan Tariq, MD, discusses early data on a passive, device-agnostic AI platform for heart failure monitoring. “When clinicians are empowered with insights and able to act earlier, you're able to have a durable impact," he said.

Telehealth company admits to sharing medical records with law firms as Epic’s lawsuit heats up

GuardDog admitted to accessing medical histories from patients stored on Epic’s platform, selling some of them to law firms engaged in unrelated civil litigation. The primary defendant in Epic’s lawsuit, Health Gorilla, maintains it did nothing wrong and accuses Epic of stifling interoperability.

doctor with overweight patient who may be treated with TAVR or surgery

New obesity statistics highlight importance of preventive cardiology

Cardiovascular health is much worse in some parts of the United States than others. Cardiologists in those high-risk areas can make a world of difference by embracing preventive cardiology and working to treat patients before it is too late.