Bonus Features – October 18, 2026 – 74% of cyberattacks lead to disruptions in patient care, 56% of caregivers use AI tools to support their responsibilities, plus 30 more stories

Welcome to the weekly edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features. This article will be a weekly roundup of interesting stories, product announcements, new hires, partnerships, research studies, awards, sales, and more. Because there’s so much happening out there in healthcare IT that we aren’t able to cover in our full articles, we still want to make sure you’re informed of all the latest news, announcements, and stories happening to help you better do your job.

Stats

• A Bay Alarm Medical survey found that 56% of caregivers are currently using AI-powered tools to help with their caregiving responsibilities, and 46% of caregivers would accept more AI monitoring if it meant less stress for themselves.
• A Bridges Sober Living survey found that 34%of adults who used an AI chatbot during a substance use or mental health crisis said it encouraged them to seek professional help.
• A report from PrivadoAI found healthcare organizations accounts for 64% of all web and application privacy settlements in the United States.
• Research from Proofpoint and Ponemon Institute found that 74% of cyberattacks led to disruptions in patient care; in addition, the average cost of mitigating the most expensive cyberattacks has risen 8% in the last year.
• A symplr survey found that more than 40% of core processes such as credentialing, contract management, workforce scheduling, and supply chain management are fully manual, compared to about 5% tat have been fully automated.

Partnerships

• Healthcare provider data from Verisys is now available in Lyric42, the decision support platform from Lyric.
• Transcarent is partnering with OrthoForum Value Network, a musculoskeletal clinically integrated network, to expand members’ access to orthopedic surgery. In addition, Transcarent is partnering with Angle Health, a benefits platform, to expand members’ access to MSK and surgical care.

Products

• Arbital Health expanded Arbital AI, adding agents that execute complex actuarial workflows autonomously.
• Corti released a benchmark for AI-generated clinical notes that measures what a note captures, whether it’s supported by the conversation, and what it leaves out.
• Primary care EHR and billing system Elation Health added automated payment posting.
• Epic launched Prescription Marketplace to help clinicians and patients compare medication costs at different pharmacies (with and without insurance) before the prescription is sent.
• Experian Health added income and employment verification to Patient Financial Clearance, which helps screen patients for financial assistance and reduce bad debt.
• Google Health released Google Fitbit Edge and integrated Flo Health’s women’s health data into Google Health Coach.
• Impact Advisors launched OPTIX Workforce Intelligence, a healthcare-focused workforce analytics and labor productivity product now available on Workday Marketplace.
• MediRoutes launched Predictive ETAs to help non-emergency medical transportation providers estimate how long each route will take.
• Medsender launched Agentic Referral Management to read incoming referrals and contact patients to help practices book appointments.
• Mitel unveiled Mitel Workforce Experience (Mitel WX), a new core business communications app framework.
• Solera Health launched its Cancer Care Network, connecting health plan members and employees to at-home screening and sample collection as well as care and treatment navigation.

Implementations

• UMass Memorial Health selected Accenture and Microsoft to modernize its data platform.
• Gilead Sciences expanded its contract with Cognizant to develop DevOps capabilities and the responsible application of agentic AI tools.
• Israel’s Sheba Medical Center selected Gix Internet subsidiary deliverz.ai for robot delivery of blood and bone marrow within the hospital.
• California-based Vitality Kidney Care selected Evergreen Nephrology to support chronic kidney disease management between scheduled visits.
• The New York State Office for the Aging extended its partnership with Intuition Robotics to bring ElliQ to aging New Yorkers at risk of loneliness and social isolation.
• Wisconsin-based Emplify Health selected Pearl Health as its Medicare accountable care benchmarking technology partner.
• The CDC extended its contract with Verily Health to support the national wastewater-based infectious disease surveillance program.

Company News

• Research from Briya demonstrated how AI and NLP can uncover under-documented cases of liver disease from unstructured radiology reports.
• Elevance Health Foundation announced four recipients of its inaugural Patient Safety Prize, with a total investment of $4 million.
• Flatiron Health expanded Flatiron Telescope, its oncology intelligence platform, with datasets from the UK, Germany, and Japan.
• Medical Informatics will unveil the Sickbay Experience Demo Center at TMC Helix Park, a Houston-based life sciences campus.
• Nine community health organizations went live on OCHIN Epic during Q3 2026, including the first member in Vermont.
• Siemens Healthineers shut down its general imaging ultrasound business and announced a focus on procedural ultrasound and image-guided therapy.

If you have news that you’d like us to consider for a future edition of Healthcare IT Today Bonus Features, please submit them on this page. Please include any relevant links and let us know if news is under embargo. Note that submissions received after the close of business on Thursday may not be included in Bonus Features until the following week.