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Now, here’s what we have this week:
McKinsey: AI becomes healthcare’s growth engine
Largest medical AI trial yet shows clear clinical benefit
CB Insights: the digital health comeback
15 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…
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McKinsey: AI becomes healthcare’s growth engine
McKinsey’s latest outlook on US healthcare in 2026 shows a system under pressure, but with AI creating a clear path to growth. The standout is Healthcare Services and Technology, which McKinsey expects to remain the fastest growing sector as payers and providers outsource more work and shift spend from manual services to software.
AI is the catalyst. About 85% of healthcare organizations are already pursuing or deploying genAI, and adoption is moving quickly into production. Workflow-heavy areas like documentation, claims, revenue cycle, and care coordination are driving the biggest gains. By 2029, McKinsey expects nearly half of healthcare profits to come from software, data, and analytics, while traditional admin and consulting services begin to slow or contract.
On the policy side, a new federal program will direct $50B to states for technology investments, including AI, telehealth, and interoperable data systems, which adds momentum. Together, margin pressures from payers and providers, increased progress of AI tech and policy tailwinds are pushing AI toward becoming the core operating layer of healthcare. (link)(linkedin)
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Largest medical AI trial yet shows clear clinical benefit
In the largest randomized clinical trial of medical AI to date, researchers evaluated whether AI can meaningfully improve breast cancer screening. The study followed more than 100,000 women in Sweden and compared the standard approach of two radiologists reading each scan with a model where one radiologist was supported by AI.
The results were hard to ignore. Radiologist plus AI detected 29% more cancers while cutting reading workload by 44%. Fewer cancers emerged in the two years after screening, and those that did were generally caught earlier and were less aggressive. Sensitivity improved without increasing false positives, with consistent performance across age groups and breast density.
This is real-world, population-scale evidence that AI can help clinicians detect cancer earlier while easing capacity constraints. Once again this shows that clinicians powered by AI are more effective than those working alone. (link)(linkedin)
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CB Insights: the digital health comeback
Digital health staged a real comeback in 2025. According to CB Insights’ State of Digital Health 2025 report, funding rose for the second straight year to $22.3B, even as deal volume fell and investors concentrated capital in fewer, more mature companies.
AI was the clear throughline. All 14 new digital health unicorns were AI-driven, including Abridge (clinical documentation), Hippocratic AI (healthcare agents), and OpenEvidence (medical reference). Mega-rounds of $100M+ captured 44% of total funding, led by Oura’s $900M raise at an $11B valuation and large checks for Function Health and Neko Health as consumers continued to pay out of pocket for prevention.
M&A rebounded 33% after a three-year slump, led by AI-heavy acquisitions in revenue cycle, clinical trials, and virtual care. Standouts included Thermo Fisher’s $9.4B acquisition of Clario and Waystar’s $1.25B buy of Iodine Software. (link)
Tools & Partnerships 🔧
Latest on business, consumer, and clinical healthcare AI tools and partnerships…
TOOLS
Nearly half of nurses now use AI at work: A Wolters Kluwer report found 47% of nurses are using AI on the job, with adoption driven by documentation relief and care coordination despite lingering trust concerns. (link)
DeepMind’s AlphaGenome maps disease-causing mutations: Google DeepMind released the paper and open weights for AlphaGenome, an AI model that predicts how genetic mutations affect disease, flagging cancer-linked changes previously missed for years. (link)
Nearly two-thirds of Epic hospitals use ambient AI: A study found 63% of Epic hospitals had adopted ambient AI by mid-2025, with DAX Copilot, Abridge, and ThinkAndor leading adoption. (link)
NYU Langone AI predicts post-discharge nursing needs: NYU Langone developed an AI model that analyzes inpatient data to identify which patients will require nursing care after discharge, aiming to improve transitions and reduce readmissions. (link)
Suki study links ambient AI to higher-acuity coding: A KLAS validation study found Suki’s ambient AI increased accurate high-acuity coding at McLeod Health, with more Level 4 and 5 encounters and fewer undercoded visits. (link)
Akido launches AI-powered street medicine program: Akido Labs partnered with health systems in the Bay Area to deploy AI-supported street medicine, bringing care coordination and documentation tools directly to unhoused populations. (link)
Silna launches Predictive Document Intelligence: Silna added an AI tool that checks clinical documentation before prior auth submission, catching issues early and driving 24.5% faster approvals with a 98% first-pass acceptance rate. (link)
Orlando VA hospital rolls out ambient AI scribes: The Orlando VA Health Care System announced plans to deploy ambient AI scribe technology to reduce documentation burden and improve clinician-patient interactions. (link)
Boston Children’s finds patient ‘doppelgangers’ faster with AI: Boston Children’s Hospital uses AI to identify clinically similar patients up to 5x faster, supporting rare disease research and treatment insights. (link)
UT Health San Antonio saves $80K using AI for compliance: UT Health San Antonio used AI to automate compliance workflows, saving $80,000 in labor costs while improving regulatory readiness. (link)
AI flags cardiac patients at risk of readmission: A new AI tool analyzes clinical and social factors to identify cardiac patients at high risk of readmission, enabling earlier intervention. (link)
PARTNERSHIPS
Hume AI + DeepMind: Hume AI signed a licensing deal with Google DeepMind to advance ML models that interpret speech and nonverbal signals for use cases like clinical research and screenings. (link)
Beauregard Health System + Artera + DrFirst: Beauregard implemented Artera’s AI patient communication platform and DrFirst’s prescription engagement tools within its MEDITECH Expanse EHR to improve patient outreach and care coordination. (link)
CenterWell + athenahealth: CenterWell adopted athenahealth’s AI-native athenaOne EHR to support senior-focused care delivery with automation embedded directly into clinical workflows. (link)
Suki + HealthEdge: Suki partnered with HealthEdge to embed ambient clinical intelligence into the GuidingCare platform, supporting health plan care managers with automated documentation and reduced administrative burden. (link)
Deal Desk 💰
Spotlight on latest capital raises, M&A, and investments…
FUNDING
Gyde, an Austin, Texas-based AI-powered insurance brokerage, raised $60M in funding. Lightspeed led the round and was joined by Optum Ventures, Crystal Venture Partners, Virtue, MVP Ventures, and others. (link)
Indigo, a AI-driven medical professional liability platform, raised $50M in Series B funding. Rubicon Founders led, joined by Town Hall Ventures and Optum Ventures. (link)
Recare, a German AI platform for hospitals and care facilities, raised up to €37M (including a €7M option) led by DNV. (link)
When, a Chicago-based health insurance transition company, raised $10.2M in a Series A funding. ManchesterStory and 7wire led. (link)
Revena, a São Paulo, Brazil-based AI platform designed to automate hospital revenue workflows, raised $8M in seed funding from Canary, Flourish Ventures, and Caravela Capital. (link)
Dentio, an AI software provider for dental clinics raised $2.3M. (link)
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
Sword Health + Kaia Health: Sword Health acquired Kaia Health for $285M, expanding its AI care platform to more than 100M patients and establishing a presence in Germany’s reimbursed digital health market. (link)
Spring Health + Alma: Spring Health acquired Alma to extend its AI-enabled mental health platform, combining Alma’s therapist practice-management and insurance infrastructure with Spring’s employer- and health plan–based mental health services serving 50M+ lives. (link)
Rapid Care + DeepDoc: Rapid Care acquired DeepDoc to add AI-powered medical records analysis capabilities to its documentation and claims management services. (link)
Stay on top of the healthcare AI market and track our portfolio 📈
as of 2/1/26
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…
trying to join moltbot as a human
That’s it for this week friends! Back to reading — I’ll see you next week.
Stay classy,
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