Vedant Bhosale

We’ve all seen the headlines, and the message is clear: the nation’s biomedical research sector is facing a massive upheaval. Unprecedented reductions in both funding and the workforce are forcing universities and AMCs to navigate a new reality in which federal funding is reprioritized, competition for that funding is ramped up, and financial pressures threaten program stability.

While the long-term impact of the current administration’s policies remains to be seen, ECG’s Andrea Wetmore and Ryan Moynihan argue that organizations have several opportunities to adapt to the mounting operational and financial challenges. Proactive planning will not only help organizations mitigate this period of acute uncertainty but also ensure they are even more successful when—and if—federal funding rebounds.

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The post Facing Uncertainty, Research Organizations Set Sights on Resiliency appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of oncology, infusion centers are being asked to do more with less. Faced with changing patient volumes, workforce shortages, and growing operational complexity, leaders must now reimagine their approach to care delivery to prepare both for today and tomorrow.

To better understand these challenges and how cancer centers are responding, LeanTaaS conducted a national survey of nearly 200 respondents from community hospitals, academic medical centers, and private oncology practices — including nursing directors, operational leaders, and administrators. The findings were published in LeanTaaS’ recent State of Cancer Centers in 2025 report. The results highlight both the operational strain infusion centers face and the strategic shifts they are making to address them.

AI Adoption Surges as Operational Pressure Mounts

More than half of cancer centers now view artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced analytics as essential to managing their operations. According to the survey, 54% of leaders identified scheduling and capacity management as the areas most in need of AI support. This is no surprise: 62% of centers named patient flow and scheduling as their top operational challenge, and nearly half (47%) pointed to midday congestion as a key bottleneck.

These pressures are magnified by a shifting healthcare environment. Aging populations, policy upheavals, and unpredictable supply chain disruptions all make operational agility a top priority. AI isn’t just a tool for efficiency; it’s a critical enabler of resilience. When infusion centers can use predictive analytics to adjust schedules in real time, rebalance workload distribution, and anticipate resource gaps, they can stay agile even in the face of disruption.

Data: The Missing Link in Smarter Decision-Making

Despite growing interest in AI and advanced technology, many organizations still struggle with basic access to data. The report found that 82% of cancer centers struggle to access the actionable data needed to make timely, informed decisions. Only 11% of leaders say they can easily obtain accurate, reliable operational data.

This lack of data visibility undermines decision-making at every level. Staffing plans built on flawed assumptions, inconsistent performance metrics, and scheduling templates that fail to reflect true demand and confluence of unplanned events that happen in infusion centers every day all contribute to inefficiencies. For leaders navigating daily trade-offs, trust in the data is non-negotiable. That’s why many cancer centers are investing in integrated platforms that automate data validation and offer real-time operational dashboards.

Strategic Growth Without a Staffing Surge

The report reveals a widening gap between growth ambitions and workforce realities. While 53% of infusion centers are planning service expansions, only 20% plan to hire additional staff — a significant drop from 33% in 2023. As nurse shortages and burnout persist, leaders are increasingly looking beyond headcount to improve throughput.

Technology is filling the gap. With tools that optimize chair utilization, prevent appointment gridlock, and streamline nurse assignments, centers are finding ways to grow sustainably. In fact, several leading institutions are using AI-driven insights to justify weekend access, expanded hours, and even capital investment — all without compromising staff wellbeing.

Why Resilience and Flexibility Matters Now

Operational resilience is no longer optional. Sweeping healthcare policy changes and increasing insurance coverage instability adds further urgency to already strained operations. If more patients face barriers to coverage and care becomes more fragmented, infusion centers must be ready to do more with the same (or fewer) resources. That means building systems that flex when conditions change.

An AI-powered tool is one of the few scalable solutions that can meet this challenge. It transforms operations from reactive to proactive and equips leaders with the confidence to act decisively when it matters most.

The Path Forward

The message from the State of Cancer Centers in 2025 is clear: actionable data and advanced technology are not just operational upgrades — they are strategic imperatives. For hospital and cancer center executives overseeing infusion care, the time to embrace AI is now. Doing so won’t just ease today’s burdens; it will future-proof their operations for whatever comes next.

To learn more and benchmark your organization’s readiness, download the full report.
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The med spa and aesthetics industry exhibited robust growth in customer demand in 2024, driving continued interest from private equity investment. A key driver behind this interest stems from the increased demand for treatments like neurotoxins, skin rejuvenation, and weight loss procedures and strategies, such as Semaglutides and CoolSculpting. When acquiring med spa practices, private equity firms routinely conduct financial due diligence to better understand the economic performance of the target company and ensure alignment on strategic objectives. Financial due diligence is pivotal for determining a fair and accurate valuation of the target because it proactively identifies potential risks and opportunities. 

During financial due diligence, the provider typically adjusts a company’s EBITDA to provide a fair and accurate representation of its run-rate earnings. In the med spa industry, the most notable considerations include proper revenue and expense recognition on an accrual basis, discretionary shareholder spending, determination of assets and services that will convey, and changes in service mix and pricing. 

Revenue & Expense Recognition

Proper revenue and expense recognition is one of the most important factors when evaluating a target company because it enhances financial transparency. Historical margin analysis is paramount for private equity firms and other buyer groups when evaluating med spa practices for acquisition, and they are only useful with proper revenue and expense recognition policies. Med spas are generally cash-pay businesses, which may result in misleading financial statements, as earnings may seem more volatile than the underlying business’ true performance. This volatility stems from the use of prepaid and packaged services, membership offerings, and gift card sales, each necessitating adjustments to accurately reflect revenue generation within a given period.

For example, a company might run a holiday sale in December on prepaid neurotoxin injection packages for treatments that will be provided the following year. Cash-basis accounting would show a material increase in revenue in December by recording this transaction at the time of purchase, whereas accrual accounting would normalize this scenario by recording the revenue when the services are rendered over the subsequent months.

Other common revenue reporting issues include improper recognition of revenue from prepaid packages, where the subsequent usage of services is booked as write-offs or discounts rather than the amortization of said prepaid balances. Another issue is the mismanagement of cash payments, where collected funds may not be recorded in the billing system, driving financial discrepancies. These industry-specific challenges highlight the critical need for thorough financial due diligence to uncover and address potential risks, ensuring more accurate financial reporting and informed decision-making. VMG Health’s team of experts conduct a comprehensive analysis of revenues and revenue-related liabilities, leveraging the med spa’s billing and sales data, engaging in detailed discussions with management, and reviewing unearned revenue reports along with package and membership details. This process ensures accurate revenue recognition under ASC 606 as we transition from cash to accrual accounting. 

Similarly, expenses recorded on a cash basis can be misleading due to varying inventory and cash management practices. For instance, a med spa practice may buy injection drugs and supplies in bulk one month to take advantage of rebate arrangements with suppliers, creating misleading gross margins and other profitability metrics when evaluating the cash-basis income statement. For further detail on cash-to-accrual conversions, see VMG Health’s previous article: Quality of Earnings Analysis: Navigating the Cash-to-Accrual Conversion.

Changes in Service Offerings & Pricing Strategies

To keep up with the dynamic nature of its consumers and evolving cost pressures, med spas must continuously update pricing matrices and offer new services. VMG Health understands med spa pricing and service mix through our in-depth analysis of billing data reports and price-volume trends. 

Financial due diligence procedures focus on adjusting revenues based on historical volumes and new pricing considerations to give a more accurate representation of the revenue streams an investor would be acquiring. Through our comprehensive revenue analysis, VMG Health’s industry experts provide our clients with clarity regarding historical service line trends and production centers. Through our deep industry connections, we have noted service-offering expansion in the sector to include hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and regenerative medicine to improve same-store sales growth.

Understanding the drivers behind the price and service mix shifts is critical; it deeply informs the run-rate adjustments that may be warranted. Through Q1 2025, increasing supply and personnel costs continue to pressure gross margins, while increased competition limits operators’ ability to raise prices to offset expense inflations. Med spa practices must pay particular attention to the revenue contribution attributable to weight-loss drugs, given the change in their status on the FDA-shortage list.  

Non-Recurring, One-Time, & Shareholder Discretionary Expenses

Often, shareholders of any small business—not just med spa practices—pay for certain eligible personal expenses, such as automobile and travel costs, through the business. It is critical to understand what expenses and cash outflows are truly used to operate the business versus the items more closely aligned to the benefits of ownership. These expenses are unlikely to continue after the transaction, so removing them from adjusted EBITDA helps reflect the company’s true expense profile. 

Moreover, the med spa industry has seen tremendous growth in technological advancement. As new technologies have come to market, practices are purchasing improved equipment to enhance their service offerings. Given the industry’s cash-basis accounting nature, these equipment purchases are recorded as expenses on the income statement at the time of payment rather than being capitalized on the balance sheet and depreciated over time. In financial due diligence, it is imperative to identify and exclude one-time equipment purchases from EBITDA calculations to provide a clearer distinction between operational profitability and cash requirements to operate the business. 

In addition to removing one-time large equipment purchases, VMG Health works with practice management and uses financial and industry insights to determine whether the practice will need to replace or purchase new equipment in the future. Maintenance and growth capital expenditures can have a material impact on a practice’s future cash flows and should be brought to the attention of any potential investor. 

Shared Resources

Finally, shared resources such as exam rooms, personnel, and equipment partnerships introduce complexities that must be carefully evaluated. Revenue and expense allocations become critical, as shared assets can obscure true profitability by inflating or deflating costs based on informal agreements or non-standardized accounting practices. 

In one recent engagement, a target practice shared treatment rooms with another entity under favorable terms to the other entity, which overstated facility rent expenses relative to what would convey post-close. Similarly, shared personnel, such as aestheticians, nurses, or administrative staff, may be compensated through different entities or cost-sharing arrangements, requiring verification that wages and benefits are properly allocated. 

Equipment partnerships—where expensive devices are leased or shared between businesses—can pose risks tied to contractual obligations and revenue-sharing terms that may be missed without financial due diligence. A thorough analysis assesses whether financial records accurately reflect the med spa’s standalone earnings potential, ensuring shared resource arrangements do not mask operational inefficiencies or create hidden liabilities. Through document investigation and in-depth discussions with management, VMG Health informs clients on shared resource considerations that may impact the target’s future EBITDA contribution.
The post Financial Due Diligence in the Med Spa Industry: Key Considerations appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

Clearwater, FL – July 21, 2025 – hellocare.ai, the leading AI-assisted virtual care delivery and patient engagement platform transforming hospital operations and care models, today announced its integration with Epic MyChart Bedside TV and official listing in Epic Toolbox under the Bedside TV Hardware category. Health systems using Epic can now seamlessly enable hellocare.ai’s smart hospital experience directly through MyChart Bedside TV—running natively on the hellocare.ai device, which is compatible with any standard hospital TV and requires no additional hardware.

“This listing in Epic Toolbox reinforces our commitment to interoperability and improving the inpatient experience through Epic MyChart Bedside TV by leveraging health systems’ existing Epic infrastructure and investments,” said Labinot Bytyqi, Founder and CEO of hellocare.ai. “We’re excited to bring Epic MyChart Bedside TV engagement to more hospitals, enabling scalable and patient-centered care.”

Key Highlights of the Integration:

Epic’s MyChart Bedside TV runs directly on the hellocare.ai device with no additional login or hardware required

Patients can view their medical records and communicate with care teams—all from the comfort of their bed

Supports virtual visits between patients and their care teams via the same device

Compatible with any hospital TV using the all-in-one hellocare.ai device

Plug-and-play integration with various pillow speaker systems for intuitive control of the MyChart Bedside experience

Supports Live TV through both IPTV and Coax cable

Streamlines implementation of Epic MyChart Bedside TV and reduces operational complexity

Utilizes the same hellocare.ai device for Epic CAL and ECAL workflows, virtual nursing, patient monitoring, and other smart room functions

Cloud-based device management for app updates and centralized configuration

Explore the full listing in Epic Toolbox: hellocare.ai MyChart Bedside TV on Epic Showroom  

A New Standard for Virtual Care and Patient Engagementhellocare.ai is the only purpose-built platform on the market with a fully in-house technology stack—spanning hardware, software, AI, and seamless EHR integration. This end-to-end approach delivers unmatched speed, customization, and continuous innovation. Paired with AI and hybrid care team models, hellocare.ai enables health systems to scale care rapidly, deliver high-quality services from anywhere, and offer a truly patient-centric experience—all through one unified platform.

In addition to MyChart Bedside TV, hellocare.ai also supports Epic CAL (Context-Aware Link) and ECAL (Embedded Context-Aware Link) integrations—allowing for secure, context-driven launches from Epic Hyperspace, Haiku, and Rover. These integrations are showcased in hellocare.ai’s Virtual Care Connector listing in Connection Hub on Epic Showroom.

Already deployed across 70+ health systems, hellocare.ai empowers hospitals to deliver AI-assisted Virtual Nursing, Virtual Sitting, Patient Engagement, Ambient Documentation, Digital Whiteboards, Digital Room Entry Sign, Hospital-at-Home, and Remote Patient Monitoring—within a deeply integrated, enterprise-grade solution.

About hellocare.aihellocare.ai is a leading provider of AI-assisted virtual care solutions. Headquartered in Clearwater, FL, the company supports over 70 health systems across the U.S. and is rapidly expanding globally. Its all-in-one platform improves outcomes, enhances clinical efficiency, and reduces staff burnout—seamlessly embedding into existing EHRs and workflows. Learn more at https://hellocare.ai

Epic, Haiku, Hyperspace, MyChart, and Rover are registered trademarks of Epic Systems Corporation.
The post Epic MyChart Bedside TV Now Runs Natively on hellocare.ai Devices, Available in Epic Toolbox appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

IV robotics and workflow preparation technology is critical to the advancement of patient safety and accuracy in IV compounding. But while the need is widely recognized, barriers to adoption – including tight budgets, bandwidth constraints, and lack of regulations or requirements – continue to persist.

Industry leaders, patient safety advocates, and policy activists gathered in Pittsburgh last month for the IV TRUST Summit – an exclusive event intended to further the adoption of IV automation to improve the safety, accuracy, and availability of sterile compounds. Among those leading the charge is Mark Neuenschwander.

No stranger to patient safety advocacy, Neuenschwander has spent more than three decades promoting development and deployment of medication safety technologies. His work to drive adoption of bar code medication administration (BCMA) changed point of care practice and has been honored by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

Neuenschwander has now shifted focus to a new area of patient care safety – IV compounding.  As founding director of the THRIV Coalition for IV Accuracy, he is rallying healthcare stakeholders to promote universal adoption and consistent utilization of workflow management systems and robotics to support safety and accuracy in IV preparations. “I formed the THRIV Coalition to champion bar code IV preparation technologies just as we had with administration technologies,” Neuenschwander said during his presentation.

The Coalition has developed the THRIV 5, a checklist of minimum criteria for pharmacy leaders to consider when planning for adoption of IV compounding technology.

Workflow Management Software – designed to guide compounders and/or robotics step-by-step through IV “recipes” with forcing functions to drive accuracy at each step of the process

Bar Code Scanning – processes designed as a forcing function to ensure all components are the correct ingredients

Volume Verification – employing a variety of tools, including in-process image capture, gravimetrics, volumetrics, and optical volume recognition, to verify volumes of base solutions and additives are correct

Auto Labeling – for scanning at the point of administration, produced only after all the steps have been verified as having been accurately fulfilled

Auto Documentation – recording and time-stamping each step of the preparation to support accuracy throughout the process

THRIV champions the universal adoption and consistent utilization of IV workflow management systems through advocacy and outreach to healthcare providers, while also working with other industry advocates, government entities, and accrediting bodies to drive compelling standards and compliance, recognizing the criteria outlined in the Coalition’s checklist. The hope is, that similar to the journey to BCMA, the industry will move from voluntary utilization to requiring the technology.   

“I believe that we’ve had some really good robotic development but in terms of adopting and in terms of refining, I think we are just entering the golden age,” Neuenschwander said.

 “There are compelling benefits to doing things robotically – eliminating opportunities for error, reducing risk of product contamination, and preventing harm to techs or the preparer,” he continued. “We need to persist in telling the story.”

Watch the full presentation here and visit www.thrivcoalition.org to download the full checklist and learn more about how you can join advocacy efforts.
The post Unifying the Industry Around the Need for IV Automation appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.

As health systems face mounting pressure to cut costs without compromising care, a growing number are turning to AI in the mid-revenue cycle. Technology investments have to do more than promise value, however — they must prove it.

A new 2025 KLAS Second Look Report suggests that Xsolis’ Dragonfly, the next generation of the company’s AI-driven platform that improves medical necessity decision-making, is hitting the mark, delivering measurable outcomes to hospitals and health systems. In anonymized client interviews with KLAS, Dragonfly users report improved denial rates, reduced length of stay (LOS), and rapidly achieved return on investment — all while enhancing payer-provider collaboration.

Denials: A $20 Billion Drain

Preventable denials aren’t just an administrative headache — they’re a debilitating financial liability. A Kaiser Family Foundation study found that roughly 1 in 5 adults encountered a health insurance denial in 2023, with adjudication and appeals costing health systems nearly $20 billion annually. Around half of denials are ultimately overturned, which equates to unnecessary and unsustainable administrative waste for both payer and provider organizations, leading to patient confusion and frustration about their billing experience.

In this context, 89% of Xsolis users surveyed by KLAS say they rely on its AI to minimize preventable denials. Nearly 9 in 10 saw outcomes within the first year of implementation, a critical benchmark for hospital executives wary of long tech ramp-ups. Moreover, 91% reported being satisfied or highly satisfied with overall performance — a strong signal in a tech market suffering from vendor fatigue and confusion amidst heightened AI promises.

Payer-Provider Alignment at Scale

Operational friction between payers and providers not only drags down revenue cycle performance, but it also compromises the patient experience. With two-thirds of Xsolis’ 500+ hospital clients now sharing an AI platform with their networked health plans, its AI-driven Dragonfly platform is helping to bridge that gap.

The platform goes beyond workflow automation. It draws from patient information in the EHR to predict the appropriate level of care for each patient, presented through shared views of Xsolis’ proprietary Care Level Score™, which is updated in real-time. This enables payers and providers to speak the same language, reducing administrative back-and-forth. The AI platform is fueled by its access to the full scope of clinical data on more than 300 million unique patient encounters, and it has delivered more than 2.7 billion predictions to date.

According to the KLAS report, 78% of respondents now use the platform for payer-provider communication, helping to streamline approvals, reduce patient status confusion, and ultimately accelerate discharge planning.

Cutting Length of Stay Without Cutting Corners

Length of stay (LOS) is a top operational lever for hospital financial leaders, directly impacting bed availability, throughput, and staffing efficiency. Clients interviewed by KLAS credit Xsolis with helping them optimize LOS and observation rates while accelerating alignment on care decisions. The Dragonfly platform also includes new functionality — like the Navigate product line, which targets LOS reductions, and Revenue Integrity Insights, advanced analytics that target financial recovery.

Also new to the Dragonfly platform is the addition of generative AI, which complements the platform’s predictive AI models. New generative AI features further assist clinical and revenue cycle teams by surfacing insights and streamlining documentation. For example, 68% faster medical necessity reviews were reported during a health system’s generative AI pilot experience.

Built for Integration and Scale

Ease of implementation and integration remain deal-breakers for many health systems evaluating tech platforms. KLAS respondents cited Xsolis’ ability to integrate seamlessly with EHRs, along with responsive customer service and executive involvement, as top reasons for selecting the platform.

Aside from evaluations of its platform, Xsolis has also been recognized by KLAS as No. 1 Best in KLAS for Physician Advisory Services for four years, as a KLAS Top 5 Emerging Solution for reducing the cost of care, and for its leadership with payer-provider collaboration with the KLAS Points of Light case study initiative.

The Bottom Line

Hospitals can’t afford long implementations or soft ROI. According to the latest KLAS data, Xsolis delivers rapid, tangible results in high-stakes areas like denials, length of stay, and payer-provider communication. With the overwhelming majority of users seeing measurable improvements within 12 months and nearly all reporting satisfaction with platform performance, Xsolis offers a compelling blueprint for using AI to address today’s mid-revenue cycle pain points.

Read the full KLAS report or download the infographic highlighting key take-aways.
The post AI That Pays Off: How Health Systems Are Reducing Avoidable Denials with Mid-Revenue Cycle Tech appeared first on Becker’s Hospital Review | Healthcare News & Analysis.