News 4/15/26

Top News

The DoJ seeks an immediate freeze of assets and receivership of online health and wellness prescription delivery company Zealthy for using the names and likenesses of physicians who don’t work for the company to issue prescriptions without their knowledge or consent, among several other violations that amount to what the department calls “a runaway campaign of lawbreaking.”

The action stems from a 2024 complaint filed against the company and its founder and CEO, Kyle Robertson, who also faces charges related to his time at Cerebral. That company wound up paying a $2.9 million fine for the unauthorized distribution of Adderall and other controlled substances. Robertson was fired from Cerebral in 2022, after which he immediately launched Zealthy.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Virtual maternal healthcare company SimpliFed announces $10.8 million in Series A funding.

People

Donna Robinson (InStem) joins Iris Telehealth as chief growth officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Iris Telehealth announces GA of Iris Insights, its new suite of clinical, operational and financial analytics for behavioral healthcare providers.

AI clinician assistant software vendor Freed develops an AI-powered receptionist to automate front desk tasks.

Golden State Orthopedics & Spine (CA) selects Athenahealth’s AthenaOne EHR, RCM, and practice management platform.

Evergreen Nephrology will incorporate Jaan Health’s Phamily care management technology into its Connected Care kidney care management service.

OrthoNY implements IKS Health’s MyCareHub agentic AI-based patient engagement software.

Highgate Medical Group (NY) will use Brook’s chronic care management capabilities as part of its patient-centered medical home program.

Research and Innovation

MGMA’s latest “Regulatory Burden Report” highlights the time-consuming challenges practices face when it comes to dealing with prior authorizations, claims denials, MIPS participation, and hiring additional staff to deal with it all. A few highlights from the report, which pulled from the responses of 230 practices:

• 90% say prior authorization requirements have increased over the past year, which have led to delayed care, patient frustration, and physician burnout.
• 86% of respondents participating in MIPS say quality reporting for the program has increased administration burden and cost without resulting in meaningful quality improvements.
• 40% have had to hire multiple administrative staff to deal with payer-related tasks and reporting requirements.

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News 4/13/26

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Vibrant Practice rebrands to Ultralight and announces $9.3 million in new funding. The company offers EHR software to longevity and personalized medicine clinics.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

HeyDonto AI Technology raises $20 million in seed funding. The company’s Conduit platform connects dental practice management systems with medical EHRs, consumer health apps, and payer systems.

People

Lalan Wilfong, MD (Thyme Care) joins Navista as chief medical officer.

Announcements and Implementations

Mental Wealth Solutions announces GA of HealthcareCheck, a white-label patient screening and social care coordination app for FQHCs, behavioral health clinics, and dialysis clinics.

Athenahealth adds Rater8’s provider reputation management capabilities to its AthenaOne platform.

CareAxis launches to offer automated patient engagement software to multi-provider practices.

Other

The local news profiles FairMedBill, a startup that uses patent-pending, AI-based software to review medical bills for possible errors and offer guidance on how to dispute them. Husband-and-wife team Kelly and Kasha Williamson launched the company after experiencing their own frustrations with medical bills: “From our perspective,” says Kasha, “we’re not looking to Silicon Valley, we’re not looking to cash out. This is really out of a feeling of wanting to be able to help people who are in a bad situation.”

Patients express frustration with ongoing Palomar Health Medical Group (CA) technical difficulties that have impacted their ability to schedule appointments and communicate with clinicians. The group sent a letter to patients March 13 explaining that it was working with NextGen, its EHR and practice management systems vendor, to resolve the issues. No further updates have been provided and patient portal messaging is still down.

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News 4/8/26

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Healthcare clearinghouse network operator and practice software vendor Office Ally acquires Jopari, a healthcare revenue cycle and medical billing connectivity software provider.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Mental healthcare practice management company Alma lays off 45 employees, citing a realignment of roles. The company, which also also offers an online tool to help patients find therapists, is in the process of being acquired by Spring Health, which offers digital mental healthcare solutions to payers and employers.

People

Michael Tang, MD, MBA (Cityblock Health) joins Blackbird Health as chief medical officer.

PDS Health names Brett Bingham (Banner Health) president of PDS Health Medical.

Announcements and Implementations

AdvancedMD adds an electronic medication administration record tool to its EHR for enhanced visibility into medication scheduling, administration, and documentation.

Arkansas Otolaryngology Center goes live on CareCloud’s practice management and RCM software and services across its nine facilities.

PrognoCIS EHR developer Bizmatics announces GA of its PrognoAI Suite, which includes AI-powered scribe, chat assistant, and health summary tools.

Greenway Health announces GA of its agentic AI-powered Novare EHR for ambulatory care.

The Arizona Psychiatry Access Line will use Trayt Health’s digital care coordination platform to help pediatric, primary care, obstetric, and women’s healthcare providers find and coordinate behavioral healthcare services.

Other

Purdue University profiles Leto Tech, a startup with Purdue roots that has developed software to help providers and schools connect patients and students with social services. Leto’s software was initially developed for a HRSA competition in 2023, where it came in third place. The software, which can be integrated with EHRs, was further developed through the Regenstrief Center and is now being commercialized by Leto.

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News 4/1/26

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Behavioral health support chatbot developer Jimini Health raises $17 million in seed funding, bringing the startup’s total raised to $25 million. Its Sage behavioral health assistant supports both patients and providers before, during, and after therapy sessions and shares patient progress with the provider, including highlighting certain interactions in a timely manner.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Toronto-based Stealth Health begins offering its direct-to-consumer longevity and wellness telemedicine service and white-label platform for enterprises in the US.

Headway, which has developed an application that helps patients find, schedule, and pay for appointments with in-network therapists, acquires AI agent and assistant development company Tezi AI. Tezi co-founder Raghavendra Prabhu will join Headway as VP of engineering.

People

Craig Sharp (Cochlear) joins Sycle as president.

Announcements and Implementations

RevMaxx announces GA of its AI-powered RCM automation platform.

Advanced Radiology Consultants of Kansas City selects Virtual Radiologic’s teleradiology platform.

Research and Innovation

An MGMA Stat poll of 292 practice staff finds that 24% have not yet integrated their digital fax solution with their EHR and practice management system, meaning they are still manually handling many fax-related workflows. Faxed paper referrals and EHR limitations were cited as the biggest barriers to getting rid of manual workflows.

Other

Epic introduces a new persona for its Emmie AI assistant that is “warm, persistent, and just wants what’s best for you.” A forthcoming “Dad Mode” will intermittently send oil-change reminders and weather updates.

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News 3/30/26

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Vitl, which specializes in e-prescribing technology for practices that don’t accept insurance, announces $7.5 million in Series A funding.

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Acquisitions, Funding, Business, and Stock

Sage Health announces $50 million in new funding, bringing its total raised to $170 million. The company operates primary care and wellness clinics for Medicare patients in underserved areas.

People

Ashok Balakrishnan (K Health) joins Charlie Health as CTO.

Das Health names Lee Horner CEO.

Announcements and Implementations

Behavioral health EHR vendor Valant announces GA of RCM services.

Ferris Family Medicine (TX) implements AI medical scribe technology from Sunoh.ai.

GenieMD develops HelloGenie, a healthcare chatbot that can connect users with clinicians for virtual consults.

Other

Ambulatory health IT vendor CareCloud investigates a third-party’s unauthorized access of one of its six EHR environments on March 16. The company is still trying to determine if patient data was compromised during the eight-hour breach.

Cornerstone Community Outreach goes live on the Illinois Public Health Institute’s new Chicago Regionwide Community Information Exchange. The exchange, which is designed to help providers refer their patients to community-based health and social services, uses software and services from Wellconnected, 4medica, and the New Jersey Innovation Institute.

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Jenn, Mr. H, Lorre

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