In the final part of a three-part series, host J. Carlisle Larsen continues her conversation with Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and author of A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future.

Kaufman Hall’s latest National Hospital Flash Report underscores persistent cost pressures that continue to strain hospital and health system finances.

CMS indefinitely suspends GLP-1 pilot, call for nominations for U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, UnitedHealth beats quarterly estimates.

A new framework shows how access and capacity reveal hidden constraints in health systems—and how to unlock throughput, improve loyalty, and expand margins.

In Part 2 of a three-part series, host J. Carlisle Larsen continues her conversation with Dr. Robert Wachter, on how AI scribes are transforming healthcare by reducing clinician burnout, cutting documentation time, and emerging as the fastest-adopted, high-impact AI use case.

AI maturity is not only a function of technical capability—it’s a reflection of how an organization leads, engages its people, and operationalizes change.

Hospital and health system M&A activity continued with momentum in the first quarter of 2026, with 22 hospital and health system transactions announced—the highest first-quarter activity since 2020, according to the Kaufman Hall Mergers and Acquisitions Q1 Report.

This week’s Gist Weekly covers key healthcare industry developments including hospital financial performance trends, emerging care delivery strategies, and notable policy and regulatory updates shaping providers, payers, and the broader healthcare landscape.