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Welcome back, everyone —
Here’s what we have for you this week:
A vision for healthcare AI in America
HHS unveils AI strategy
New bold healthtech initiative at CMS
16 new tools/partnerships, 8 funding updates, new AI jobs & link-worthy content
Read time: 5 minutes
Our Picks ✨
Highlights if you’ve only got 2 minutes…
1/
A vision for healthcare AI in America
8VC just published one of the clearest roadmaps on how to actually build healthcare AI in the US instead of regulating it to death. Their core argument: AI is ready, policy is not. Healthcare now eats close to a 1/3 of working Americans’ total compensation, wait times to see a doctor average 31 days, and AI that can already pass medical exams is mostly locked out of diagnosing, prescribing, or getting reimbursed.
They outline three tiers of healthcare AI, from today’s assistants and scribes, to supervised autonomous systems, to fully autonomous AI clinicians. The path for implementation they propose: temporary CMS codes that pay AI on a pay-for-value basis until permanent reimbursement, federal laws that clean up the state patchwork, and FDA standards that compare models to real-world clinicians rather than perfection. Case in point: one diabetic retinopathy tool had to hit 85% accuracy per the FDA, while board-certified ophthalmologists land around 77%.
The system creates unnecessary suffering in the exam room and on your paycheck. AI won’t fix everything, but it’s the strongest lever we have to ease the everyday strain built into American healthcare. (link)
2/
HHS unveils AI strategy
HHS just unveiled a sweeping AI strategy that aims to modernize how the federal health system operates and set the stage for broader adoption of AI across American healthcare. Led by Acting Chief AI Officer Clark Minor, the plan lays out five pillars focused on governance, infrastructure, workforce development, research standards, and modernizing care and public-health delivery.
The strategy fulfills Trump-era directives on federal AI use and launches a OneHHS approach, bringing the CDC, CMS, FDA, NIH, and other agencies under a shared AI framework. The goal is to streamline internal operations, boost efficiency, strengthen cybersecurity, and ultimately improve patient outcomes.
Lawmakers across the aisle praised the move as a push for transparency, trust, and taxpayer value. HHS says this is only step one, with future efforts expected to involve private-sector partners and accelerate AI use in areas like FDA reviews, CMS fraud detection, and public-health analytics. We celebrate the vision and ambition — it’s time to build health AI! (link)
3/
New bold healthtech initiative at CMS
CMS just unveiled the ACCESS model, a 10-year nationwide experiment that could finally bring telehealth, remote monitoring, wearables, and digital therapeutics into the core of Medicare. Starting in 2026, ACCESS will pay providers based on outcomes rather than visit volume, focusing on four high-burden areas: metabolic disease, cardio-kidney-metabolic conditions, chronic MSK pain, and depression.
For healthtech companies that have struggled with reimbursement, this is a meaningful opening. Novel FDA-cleared tools can now earn payment by showing clinically significant improvements like lower blood pressure or better glucose control. CMS is also waiving copays and offering bonuses to referring providers. Early applicants include a wide range of digital health and AI-native companies such as Doctronic, Omada, Sword, and Hinge Health.
The FDA introduced a companion pilot called TEMPO, selecting about 40 not-yet-cleared devices to participate under enforcement discretion. Together, ACCESS and TEMPO signal a shift toward value-based, AI and tech-enabled chronic care for Medicare’s 65M members. (link)
Tools & Partnerships 🔧
Latest on business, consumer, and clinical healthcare AI tools and partnerships…
TOOLS
Man credits Grok with catching near-ruptured appendix: After an ER visit missed his symptoms, a patient says Grok flagged atypical appendicitis and urged him to request a CT scan, leading to surgery that prevented a rupture. (link)
OpenEvidence launches HIPAA-secure Dialer: OpenEvidence released a clinician-only Dialer that supports hospital caller ID and optional note generation, escalating its competition with Doximity’s widely used calling tool. (link)
FDA adopts agentic AI to modernize regulatory workflows: The FDA is piloting agentic AI tools to help automate document review, improve data processing, and accelerate scientific evaluation. (link)
Randomized controlled trials show modest time savings from AI scribes: New NEJM AI trials found Nabla saved about 23 seconds per visit and DAX about 5 seconds, while Abridge reduced daily documentation by 22 minutes. All studies reported lower burnout and cognitive load. (link)
NYT reports patients are uploading records to ChatGPT: A New York Times piece highlights the growing trend of patients feeding full medical records into ChatGPT to clarify diagnoses and understand care plans. (link)
AI scribes show benefits at Mass General Brigham: Mass General Brigham reported improved note quality, faster documentation, and physician satisfaction gains as AI scribes expand across departments. (link)
Health systems boost cybersecurity in response to AI threats: Hospitals are tightening controls, updating detection tools, and increasing training as AI-enabled attacks accelerate and ransomware groups improve their tactics. (link)
UC San Diego uses AI to cut OR waste: UC San Diego reported significant reductions in surgical supply waste after deploying AI tools that forecast case needs and optimize material use. (link)
InteliChart launches InteliSense automation platform: InteliChart introduced InteliSense, a set of administrative, clinical, and patient-facing AI agents embedded in its Healthy Outcomes platform to streamline scheduling, intake, care management, and guidance. (link)
Yara mental health chatbot shuts down: Yara AI is closing after concluding startups cannot safely bridge the gap between current AI capabilities and crisis-level mental health needs. The team open-sourced its prompt library for public use. (link)
PARTNERSHIPS
UCHealth + Doximity: UCHealth deployed Doximity’s DoxGPT and Scribe tools to support clinical documentation and streamline provider workflows across the system. (link)
LCMC Health + Nabla: LCMC Health selected Nabla to power its Epic-integrated ambient AI platform for more than 2,800 clinicians and 1.5 million annual visits across eight hospitals and affiliated practices. (link)
Inductive Bio + Various Partners: Inductive Bio received up to $21M to lead an AI toxicity modeling initiative with major research partners to develop next-generation drug safety models that reduce reliance on animal testing. (link)
UI Health + Abridge: UI Health chose Abridge’s AI scribe for inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care to improve documentation efficiency across the academic medical center. (link)
Mayo Clinic + GE HealthCare: Mayo Clinic and GE HealthCare launched GEMINI RT, a radiation oncology research initiative focused on personalized treatments, AI-driven workflow automation, and multimodal connected care. (link)
University of Kentucky + Microsoft: The University of Kentucky partnered with Microsoft to advance healthcare AI efforts, including clinical support tools, infrastructure modernization, and new applications for care delivery. (link)
Deal Desk 💰
Spotlight on latest capital raises, M&A, and investments…
FUNDING
Angle Health, a health insurance startup, raised $134M in equity and debt led by Portage, per Fortune. (link)
Excelsior Sciences, an AI-driven drug discovery startup, raised $95M in Series A funding. from Deerfield Management, Khosla Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Cornucopian Capital, Eli Lilly, Illinois Ventures, and MIT. (link)
Paradigm Health, a Cincinnati-based clinical trial matching business, raised $78M in Series B funding. Arch Venture Partners led, joined by DFJ Growth, F-Prime, General Catalyst, GV, Lux Capital, Mubadala Capital, and the American Cancer Society's BrightEdge Fund. Paradigm also acquired Flatiron Health's clinical research business. (link)
Artera, an AI platform for patient communications, raised $65M in funding. (link)
Trial Library, an SF-based platform that connects patients to clinical trials, raised $10M in Series A funding. SemperVirens Venture Capital and Next Ventures led the round and were joined by Sanofi Ventures, Lux Capital, and others. (link)
Radical Health, an SF-based developer of an "AI cancer doctor," raised $5M in pre-seed funding. Khosla Ventures led, joined by Protagonist, Entrepreneurs First, Headwater VC, and Transpose Platform. (link)
MERGERS & ACQUISTIONS
Lightbeam + Syntax: Lightbeam Health Solutions acquired Syntax Health, adding its actuarial-based tools for incentive design, contract modeling, and payor-provider alignment to Lightbeam’s AI VBC platform. (link)
XRHealth + Innerworld: XRHealth has acquired Innerworld to expand its AI-powered medical extended reality offerings, enabling the company to now include group therapy and peer-support services. (link)
as of 12/7/25
Other Relevant News 🔍
News, podcasts, blogs, tweets, resources, etc…
AI Job Opportunities 💼
Explore our AI Job Board or contact us to feature roles in our newsletter…
Visuals of the Week 📸
Funny memes, cool pics, and interesting data from around the web…
That’s it for this week friends! Back to reading — I’ll see you next week.
Stay classy,
PS. I write this newsletter for you. So if you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to reply to this email and let me know
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