NEW YORK, July 6, 2025
Digital Health Deals and Prior Authorization Pledges
Symplr’s $75M acquisition leads news. Insurers face scrutiny over prior authorization streamlining.
- Symplr acquires Smart Square from AMN Healthcare for $75 million.
- Poll suggests Best Buy underestimated healthcare complexity.
- Insurers’ prior authorization streamlining pledges are under watch.
- The Villages Health files for Chapter 11, plans sale to Humana.
- OpenAI hires a forensic psychiatrist for ChatGPT’s emotional impact.
The latest buzz in healthcare: What are the key developments in digital health acquisitions, prior authorization, and AI’s role in mental health? Several significant events are shaping the industry, from major acquisitions to growing concerns about AI’s impact.
Symplr Acquires Smart Square
Symplr has acquired the Smart Square staff scheduling system from AMN Healthcare for $75 million. The acquisition aims to bolster Symplr’s AI-driven workforce optimization capabilities for health systems.
Best Buy’s Healthcare Exit
A recent poll indicates that most respondents believe Best Buy’s departure from its Current Health business stemmed from an underestimation of healthcare’s inherent complexity.
Prior Authorization Streamlining
Will insurers follow through on their pledge to streamline prior authorization? Skepticism remains, with many believing that changes will primarily benefit the insurers themselves. The expectation is that FHIR will be used for high-volume, inexpensive items to quickly reduce labor costs.
Complex but urgent items will likely still require review by clinicians, whose qualifications may be limited and whose primary role may be to deny requests. Policies for patient transitions between insurers are expected to have numerous exceptions.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule in January 2024, mandating payers to publish a prior authorization API by January 1, 2027. Insurers will have three days to respond to urgent requests and seven calendar days for standard requests.
Featured Event
On July 22 (Tuesday) at 1 p.m. ET, the webinar “Innovating the Consumer Experience Beyond the EMR with Open Standards” will be presented. Speakers include Ryan Howells, David LaBine, Robin Monks, and Kristen Valdes. The discussion will cover how open standards like OIDC and HL7 FHIR are essential for reducing integration burdens and lowering maintenance costs, offering strategies for leveraging open technology to improve efficiency and patient trust.
Acquisitions and Business Moves
Agilio, a healthcare software vendor based in England, has acquired Blue Stream Academy, a provider of healthcare e-learning services.
The Villages Health (TVH), serving 150,000 residents in Florida’s The Villages retirement community, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The organization plans to sell itself to Humana’s CenterWell health services business. TVH reportedly owes the federal government nearly $400 million in Medicare overpayments.
Leadership Appointments
Franciscan Alliance has promoted Joseph Schnecker, MD, MMM to Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO).
Nebraska Medicine has promoted Michael Ash, MD to CEO. Ash, who is also a pharmacist, previously served as chief medical officer for Cerner for 11 years and chief transformation officer for Nebraska Medicine for eight years.
Research Findings
Researchers have found that prescription costs for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries did not decrease following the implementation of a real-time prescription benefit tool.
AI and Mental Health
OpenAI has hired a forensic psychiatrist to assess the emotional impact of ChatGPT use. This move comes amid growing concerns from mental health experts about individuals relying on AI as a therapist, citing cases where chatbots have been linked to mental breakdowns and suicides.
