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Thomas Lanvers is senior vice president at Locumsmart, a CHG Healthcare company.

While the financial pressures facing hospitals are vast, there are clear steps that can be taken to improve operational efficiency and strengthen margins. 

Future-proofing hospitals: Creating financially stronger hospital and health systems | Viewpoint

By 2050, it's estimated that 139 million people worldwide will have dementia, but by today's standards, 60% will be undiagnosed. It's clear that there's a significant gap in dementia detection and care, but what can your organization do about it?

Get perspectives from clinical leaders and neuroscience experts about the underlying causes and consequences of these gaps, practical opportunities to address them, and a proven roadmap that shows how leading health systems have successfully transformed their dementia screening and care processes.

Closing the Dementia Care Gap: Expert Insights and Proven Strategies for Health Systems

After closing its doors in early January, Sharon Regional Medical Center is open again.

The western Pennsylvania hospital opened its doors again Tuesday with a new operator, Tenor Health Foundation Sharon, LLC. Steward Health Care had owned the 163-bed medical center, but 

the for-profit company filed for bankruptcy last year

 and sold nearly all of its hospitals. Steward shuttered some facilities where the company said it couldn’t find a buyer.

Sharon Regional closed its doors Jan. 5, to the dismay of many in the community.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said it approved the reopening of the medical center last week. Tenor will operate under Steward’s license but will seek to get its own license in the future, the health department said.

Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania’s health secretary, said in a statement that the facility can be safely reopened.

“The Department of Health’s top priority is patient safety at Sharon Regional and all other health care facilities across the Commonwealth,” Bogen said in a statement. “Dedicated DOH staff have spent extensive time and energy, working hundreds of hours, seven days a week to make certain that the hospital is in substantial compliance with regulatory standards.”

Bogen said she’s glad to see the region regain its hospital. “We are pleased Sharon Regional is once again able to offer medical services to people in their community,” Bogen said.

Local officials and community members gathered over the weekend to celebrate the reopening of the hospital. Pennsylvania State Sen. Michele Brooks, a Republican, posted on her 

, “It was a full house today at Sharon Regional Medical Center as we￼ came together to celebrate a new chapter for this local community hospital.”

Brooks also said that she was “forever Grateful to the staff at Sharon Regional for the dedication to your patients and community as you stood by this hospital.” She also thanked Tenor and state officials for working to make the reopening of the hospital a reality.

Tenor Health CEO Radha Savitala appeared at the event Sunday and hailed the reopening of the hospital, as 

“Everyone’s impacted by the hospital, whether you work here or you’re a member of the community or you’ve gotten care here, and now you’re able to come back.”

 in December about its plans to close the facility, putting about 700 people out of work.

Pennsylvania state officials have been working to avert the closure of two other hospitals in the Philadelphia region.

On the other side of Pennsylvania, local officials feared that Crozer Health’s two hospitals in the Philadelphia suburbs would be closing this month, but a local organization, the Foundation for Delaware County, has 

agreed to keep them running for the near future

. Prospect Medical Holdings, the for-profit company that owns Crozer Health, has filed for bankruptcy.

For much of the past year, Steward Health Care has been selling its hospitals around the country. In the third quarter of 2024, 

Steward completed deals to sell 11 of its hospitals

. Two Massachusetts hospitals formerly owned by Steward - Carney Hospital and Nashoba Valley Medical Center - 

The bankruptcy of Steward Health Care and Prospect Medical Holdings has fueled more criticism of private equity companies owning hospitals. A bipartisan Senate Budget Committee report 

blasted private equity ownership of hospitals

, saying patients are taking a back seat to profits.

Sharon Regional Medical Center opened its doors under a new operator. The facility had been owned by Steward Health Care, which filed for bankruptcy last year.

Topic

Two months after Pennsylvania hospital closed, it has reopened

In a move set to transform healthcare data management, xCures has officially launched its comprehensive platform designed to streamline interoperability and clinical insights automation across healthcare organizations. With an emphasis on making healthcare data both useful and efficient, xCures is poised to bridge the gap between modern digital frameworks and traditional data workflows, ensuring that every piece of information is fit for purpose.

Healthcare organizations today face a daunting challenge: integrating cutting-edge digital health solutions with legacy systems that still rely on fax and other outdated methods. xCures tackles this problem head-on with a dual-pronged approach. On one hand, the platform is designed for those already connected to modern networks like Qualified Health Information Networks (QHINs) and Carequality. Its “Bring Your Own Connection” option allows organizations to plug directly into their existing interoperability infrastructure without additional hassle. On the other hand, for institutions yet to adopt these networks, xCures offers seamless integration through its connectivity partner, Kno2. This collaboration ensures that even those without a pre-existing digital connection can quickly achieve compliance with both TEFCA and Carequality standards. 

One of the key features of xCures is its adaptability. Recognizing that many healthcare organizations still depend on fax-based communication, the platform introduces both fax-first and hybrid models. For organizations that are entrenched in fax workflows, xCures delivers an ultra-efficient, cost-effective solution that automates and structures faxed documents. Its advanced AI-powered processing stack transforms traditional fax data into structured, clinically actionable FHIR records without any manual intervention. This innovation not only reduces administrative burdens but also accelerates the delivery of critical patient information to the right hands at the right time.

In scenarios where a hybrid approach is more beneficial, xCures seamlessly bridges the gap between traditional fax workflows and modern interoperability protocols. By integrating both methods, healthcare providers can enjoy full data utility regardless of the source, ensuring that every document—whether digitally generated or faxed—is converted into actionable clinical insights.

Beyond just connectivity and data conversion, xCures boasts a proprietary search algorithm that sets it apart from competitors. The platform's market-leading document discovery tool enables users to access up to twice as many documents compared to industry standards. This enhanced document retrieval capability is essential for both clinical and operational decision-making, providing healthcare professionals with more comprehensive insights that can lead to improved patient outcomes and more efficient administrative processes.

By uncovering a broader array of documents, xCures empowers clinicians and administrators alike to make informed decisions. This capability is particularly vital in environments where complete data visibility can mean the difference between timely, effective treatment and missed critical information.

At the heart of xCures is its robust data structuring engine. The platform is engineered to handle a diverse array of data formats—from faxed documents and Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) files to unstructured notes and even embedded media such as images. All of these disparate data types are seamlessly converted into a unified, structured FHIR record. This ensures that no matter the source or format of the information, the resulting data is always clinically actionable.

The automated, scalable nature of the data structuring process not only saves healthcare organizations time but also significantly reduces administrative overhead. By eliminating the need for manual data entry and interpretation, xCures minimizes the risk of human error, enhances data accuracy, and ultimately supports better patient care.

Healthcare leaders are constantly seeking solutions that not only address current interoperability challenges but also offer a vision for the future. xCures meets this demand by providing a suite of features that are tailored to diverse organizational needs. Whether an institution is already leveraging modern interoperability frameworks or still relies on traditional fax workflows, xCures ensures that every piece of data works for you.

The platform’s alignment with TEFCA protocols—specifically incorporating Treatment and IAS standards—underscores its commitment to compliance and scalability. As healthcare regulations continue to evolve, organizations using xCures can be confident that their data management practices remain at the forefront of industry standards.

Transparency and quality are at the core of the xCures promise. Every AI model used within the platform is thoroughly validated, and source documents remain fully accessible for clinical review and validation. This commitment not only guarantees trust but also provides healthcare professionals with the assurance that the data driving their clinical decisions is both accurate and reliable.

A Vision for the Future of Healthcare Data

As the healthcare landscape becomes increasingly data-driven, the ability to integrate, analyze, and act upon vast amounts of information is paramount. xCures stands out as a comprehensive solution that not only meets today’s interoperability challenges but also paves the way for a future where data is seamlessly integrated across systems—regardless of its origin.

By uniting advanced digital frameworks with proven traditional methods, xCures offers healthcare organizations a unique opportunity to enhance operational efficiency, reduce administrative burdens, and most importantly, improve patient outcomes. In an era where timely access to complete and accurate patient data is crucial, xCures emerges as a critical tool in the ongoing transformation of healthcare data management.

In summary, xCures is more than just a technology solution—it is a complete information retrieval platform designed to ensure that healthcare data is always actionable, compliant, and ready to support the evolving needs of providers. Whether through direct integration with existing networks or through seamless onboarding via Kno2, xCures is setting a new standard for interoperability and data automation in healthcare.

Beyond Interoperability: xCures' Platform Unlocks Actionable Clinical Insights from Any Data Source

Plenty of healthcare leaders say they are excited about the potential of artificial intelligence in delivering better care, but a leading patient safety group is warning of possible harm to patients.

ECRI, a nonprofit organization, placed AI on 

its annual list of the top threats facing patients in 2025

. AI landed near the top of the list, ranking second behind only the dismissal of patient and family concerns about. AI also ranked among 

Marcus Schabacker, MD, president and CEO of ECRI, has voiced concerns about the use of AI in the healthcare industry. He’s not opposing the development and use of AI by hospitals and clinicians, but he fears there aren’t enough safeguards. He outlined those concerns in an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive®.

“We continue to have concerns because, particularly the larger healthcare providers … they don't have a good governance structure to oversee the utilization of AI,” he says. “And you don't, you know, have to stretch your imagination too far to think that if you do not have good governance in place, these new tools can be abused or used in the wrong context.”

(See part of our conversation in this video. The story continues below.)

Dr. Marcus Schabacker of ECRI calls for more protections for AI in medicine

AI in health care needs safeguards for patient safety

Schabacker says health systems that are going to be using AI in patient care need to have strong governance structures in place.

Before health systems adopt AI tools, Schabacker says that leaders should ask, “How was that AI developed? What is the testing pool? Is there an intrinsic bias in the testing pool?”

He notes that AI models that have been tested on healthy, young white men won’t necessarily be as successful with older Latino men.

ECRI has advocated for more disclosure on AI tools, similar to the nutrition labels found on foods in the supermarket. He said there needs to be more transparency about the study pool and statistical methods of AI algorithms, along with information about the testing.

Many hospitals are focusing on using AI technology to automate some tasks and ease some burdens for workers, such as filing claims or documenting patient visits. Some health systems are using AI tools for clinical uses, including supporting a diagnosis. 

But with doctors facing demanding schedules and pressed to see as many patients as possible, Schabacker worries that clinicians could become overly reliant on AI tools in making a diagnosis.

“These tools, which are claimed to be decision-supporting, very quickly become decision-making,” Schabacker says.

If doctors are pressed for time, he says, “You are going to rely on anything which seems reasonable.”

Schabacker says if technologies haven’t been thoroughly tested, doctors could end up using solutions that could provide “a very wrong recommendation.” 

“When you tend to rely on those recommendations, they become very quickly decision-making tools, and that's what really concerns us,” he says. “And there's very, very little oversight.”

Schabacker also said he’d like to see more oversight from the government of AI tools.

“A lot of these AI tools are labeled as decision support, which then requires little or no oversight from the federal government at all,” he says. “And that, to us, is the biggest concern.”

ECRI says AI could lead to medical errors that lead to injury and death. The group also says the use of AI tools could make it more difficult to determine if patient complications are tied to AI, and that could make it harder to identify mistakes. 

Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health have looked at the growing use of AI in hospitals, and found some areas of concern.

Two in three American hospitals (65%) are using AI-powered predictive models, according to 

 published by Health Affairs in January. Hospitals are using the tools to project the health trajectories of patients and identify patients with higher risks of complications after they leave the hospital.

But not all hospitals reported safeguards on the performance of those models. Researchers found 61% of hospitals were examining their predictive models for accuracy, while 44% were examining those models for bias. Hospitals with better funding were more likely to have developed methods to analyze their models for accuracy and bias.

 (66%) say they’re using AI in some form of their practice, up from 38% in 2023, according to an American Medical Association survey released last month.

Doctors are “increasingly intrigued” by the potential of AI technologies to develop better and more personalized treatments, Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, the former AMA president, said in a statement accompanying the survey.

“But there remain unresolved physician concerns with the design of health AI and the potential of flawed AI-enabled tools to put privacy at risk, integrate poorly with EHR systems, offer incorrect conclusions or recommendations, and introduce new liability concerns,” Ehrenfeld said.

Many healthcare leaders say artificial intelligence offers the promise of improving care. Marcus Schabacker, CEO of ECRI, says there need to be more safeguards.

Why AI remains a top concern for patient safety

Too many patients and family members are struggling to be heard by doctors and clinicians, and it’s emerging as a key problem in protecting patients.

In fact, ECRI named the dismissal of patient and family concerns as its top concern in the organization’s annual list of threats to patient safety. ECRI, a non-profit organization focused on patient safety, released 

its 2025 ranking of patient safety concerns

Too many patients are experiencing the equivalent of “medical gaslighting,” says 

In an interview with Chief Healthcare Executive®, Schabacker says he doesn’t think doctors are intentionally engaging in “gaslighting,” the term used for deceiving or manipulating individuals into believing a false reality.

“We don't think there's a provider out there, a clinician out there, who goes to work and says, ‘Oh, I'm going to ignore patients’ concerns today,’” he says.

“We don't think that physicians are trying to mislead patients in a certain way,” Schabacker explains. “That's not what we're saying. But what we're saying is there's just not enough attention paid to what patients really say and what their symptoms really are.”

He also points out that 25 years have passed since the landmark report from the Institute of Medicine, “To Err is Human,” which found that 98,000 deaths due to medical errors occur in U.S. hospitals. And he says there’s still a great deal of work to do.

“We just haven’t made enough progress in patient safety,” Schabacker says. 

Dr. Marcus Schabacker of ECRI talks about leading threats to patient safety

Top patient safety threat: Doctors dismissing patients

Schabacker says too many patients, families and caregivers are raising concerns to clinicians and physicians that aren’t being heard or are outright ignored.

Part of the problem is that physicians are carrying such high workloads and seeing so many patients that they aren’t listening as much as they should.

“We are so pressed for time that these basic things, these basic clinician skills of listening, just get lost,” he says.

As doctors face demanding schedules and are pushed to see as many patients as possible, they can also be susceptible to leaning heavily on a suspected diagnosis.

“It’s called confirmation bias, whereas you're just trying to confirm what you already think is happening,” Schabacker says.

Health systems and other providers must think beyond using technology to improve the organization, he says. Technology alone won’t improve a flawed process.

“So when we are just introducing new technology in an already stretched system where providers don't have a lot of time, providers are not allowed to appropriately interact with the patient, they're going to jump to conclusions,” he says.

Too often, Schabacker says women and members of minority groups don’t feel as if they’re heard by their clinicians. He says it’s a particularly difficult issue for women who are members of racial or ethnic minorities.

He adds that physicians must also make an extra effort to make sure they are understanding the concerns of patients with disabilities and cognitive impairments. “It really takes time, and that's the one thing the clinicians today don't have,” he says.

Even acknowledging those understandable pressures, Schabacker says it’s critical for physicians and clinicians to take a breath and make sure that they are really listening to their patients, or the family members or caregivers. He says it’s critical to ensure patient safety.

“You can learn a lot, and at the end, you’re actually going to save time, and you're going to prevent patient harm,” he says.

Hospital and health system executives can do better by making sure that clinicians have sufficient time to have a conversation with their patients.

“You need to create an environment where that kind of positive interaction with the patient is rewarded,” he says.

And there’s no getting around the need for appropriate staffing, he adds.

“The cost is going to be much lower because we're not going to have as much misdiagnosis. We're not going to have as many wrong treatments, ignored treatments. Patients are not going to go to multiple providers because they finally want to get heard,” Schabacker says.

ECRI’s list covers concerns regarding several different facets of care, including the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare. ECRI names insufficient governance of AI in health care as the second leading threat to patient safety this year. 

AI also ranked near the top a year ago on ECRI’s list

The growing prevalence of medical information ranked third on the list. Schabacker warns of the dangers of consumers trusting what they see on social media or a web article rather than information from clinicians and healthcare experts.

“Just because something has 100,000 clicks doesn't make it right,” he says. “There's a lot of information there which gets disseminated, which has no scientific evidence based backup whatsoever.”

Here’s ECRI’s full list of its top concerns for patients in 2025.

1. Dismissing patient, family, and caregiver concerns;

2. Lack of governance of artificial intelligence;

5. Caring for veterans in non-military health settings;

7. Diagnostic error in cancers, vascular events, and infections;

8. Healthcare-associated infections in long-term care facilities;

9. Inadequate coordination during patient discharge;

10. Deteriorating working conditions in community pharmacies.

The dismissal of patient and family concerns rose to the top of ECRI’s annual list of threats to patients. Marcus Schabacker, ECRI’s CEO, talks with us about the need to listen to patients.

The leading threat to patient safety: Not listening to patients and families

 - After the ViVE conference in the Music City, it’s looking like AI won’t be a one-hit wonder for the healthcare industry.

The conversations about AI dominated the digital health conference, which probably isn’t a surprise. But it still can’t be ignored.

Here are five quick takeaways, and they’re not all about AI.

(Here’s a video roundup of ViVE. The story continues below.)

Thousands came to ViVE in Nashville for discussions on AI, cybersecurity and more

ViVE: Highlights from the digital health conference

It’s not just that people are talking about AI in healthcare, but why they’re so enthusiastic.

Hospital and healthcare executives are seeing more evidence that AI-powered technologies are capable of helping their organizations.

Healthcare leaders say they’re especially encouraged about ambient listening tools that record and summarize clinician conversations with patients, saving doctors and nurses time in documentation and reducing stress.

Marty Bonick, president and CEO of Ardent Health, said the system is seeing promising results in using AI documentation technology.

“I do think we are at the point where technology is going to start working for our caregivers and our patients, versus the other way around,” he told Chief Healthcare Executive® in 

, president of the Mayo Clinic Platform, said Mayo is using ambient documentation in Arizona and Florida, so nurses don’t need to touch a keyboard to summarize notes. And AI algorithms at Mayo are showing high degrees of accuracy, he said.

In a conversation on one of the main stages at ViVE, Halamka said, “We really are at the point in 2025, the data is good enough, the technology is getting good enough, the compute is getting available enough, and the use cases are getting clearer. So next year, we talk about what's real.”

One other note: healthcare executives are showing that they’re not just going to buy an AI tool to get the latest gadget or tech. They’re looking at AI tools that solve their problems, but aren’t inclined to try a solution and hope they can find a problem for it.

Doctors seem to be very enthusiastic about using AI documentation tools to reduce the number of hours they spend on documentation, including the dreaded “pajama time,” healthcare leaders and physicians say at ViVE.

However, doctors have some concerns about the increased efficiency AI could provide. Doctors welcome using AI to reduce their documentation demands and have more time to spend with their patients (and with their families). But doctors are worried that the added efficiency means they’ll be asked to see more patients, and spend less time with patients.

chief clinical innovation officer of Medrina, said he hears from AI vendors telling him that they’re solutions will enable him to see more patients.

“I'm like, I don't know if I want to see more patients. I want to provide better care,” Tariq said.

Nurses also say they welcome using AI tools

 and other technology, but they need solutions designed with them in mind.

Jing Wang, dean and professor of the Florida State University College of Nursing, said, “There are a lot of nurses who are very pro-AI.”

But nurses also want to be sure the tools mesh with their workflows, and protect patient safety. Hospital leaders need to consult nurses before deploying tools, and talk with nurses who have concerns about new solutions.

ViVE featured a series of discussions on cybersecurity, and it’s clear that remains a pressing concern among hospital and healthcare leaders.

John Riggi, national advisor for cybersecurity and risk with the American Hospital Association, 

outlined the growing threats of cyberattacks

, noting 259 million people in the U.S. were affected by breaches of health data.

Riggi stressed that hospitals and health systems must work to deter attacks and be prepared for disruptions when breaches happen. He also stressed that many hospitals are being affected by breaches of their business partners and vendors. “The bad guys have figured out often our third parties and business associates are less secure than we are,” Riggi said.

There seems to be growing frustration among hospitals about being blamed for breaches of their partners.

He also said that most healthcare cybeattacks are launched from ransomware groups outside the U.S., and the government needs to do more to disable those organizations.

Anika Gardenhire, chief digital and information officer of Ardent Health, outlined 

AI consumed conversations as expected, but conversations are getting more nuanced. The annual event also revealed more anxiety about pressing problems.



Thomas Lanvers

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