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AI Proof-of-Return, Heidi, and OpenEvidence Exits Europe
April 30, 2026
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Together with
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“In healthcare, especially at our scale, intentional deployment beats theoretical perfection every time.”
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Providence SVP Adar Palis
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Healthcare can cover a lot of ground when it’s moving at the speed of AI, and a new report from McKinsey found that the AI conversation is quickly shifting from proof-of-concept to proof-of-return.
The analysis was based on a survey of U.S. healthcare execs spanning payors, providers, and health services/technology groups.
AI adoption is skyrocketing at all of them. For the first time since McKinsey began tracking the metric in 2023, the orgs that have already implemented GenAI outnumbered those that haven’t.
- Half of respondents have deployed at least one GenAI use case at their organization, up from just 25% two years ago. Here’s a nice graphic on AI adoption by org type.
- McKinsey found that leadership teams are no longer questioning whether and where GenAI is relevant, they’re focusing on how it can be used responsibly at scale.
Agents are also building momentum. Despite being the new kid on the AI block, 19% of orgs reported that they’ve deployed agentic AI capabilities.
- That’s not a huge percentage considering all the new agents we’ve been covering, but another 51% of orgs are actively pursuing agentic AI proofs-of-concept.
Administrative efficiency is the priority. This chart breaks down the areas that respondents see the most potential for GenAI and multiagent systems.
- 87% ranked administrative efficiency as their leading GenAI use case.
- 76% said it was also their top priority for multiagent systems.
- Software infrastructure and engagement trailed as distant contenders for both categories.
Adoption varies by org type. Here’s the overview.
- Providers are leaning in on clinical productivity (54% are using GenAI to help).
- Payers are prioritizing administrative efficiency (34%).
- Health services and tech firms are using GenAI as software infrastructure (52%).
Adoption barriers had more overlap. Across all org types, the chief concerns with GenAI were difficulty integrating with existing workflows, risk/liability, and inaccuracies/bias.
The other shared belief? Nobody implements AI for fun. Everyone expects an ROI.
The Takeaway
AI has arrived in a big way, and McKinsey’s report confirmed that ROI is now the name of the game in every corner of the industry.
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Evidence, in the Flow of Care
Heidi brings trusted guidelines and peer-reviewed research directly into clinical workflows so decisions don’t stall care. Clinicians get clear, evidence-based answers without leaving the conversation. No ads, no limits, and no outside interests getting in the way of care. Find out how with Heidi Evidence.
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Shape Health AI at DHAI 2026
Mark your calendars. The Digital Health & AI Innovation Summit is bringing together AI leaders from across the industry for a live event in Boston on June 8-9th. This year’s agenda is packed with 150+ speakers and content curated specifically for the pioneers shaping health AI. Reserve your spot for DHAI 2026 today.
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- OpenEvidence Exits Europe: Physicians across Europe had a harder time finding medical evidence than they were expecting this week after OpenEvidence abruptly pulled its app from the E.U. and U.K. The apology message that took over OE’s entire home page cited “mounting regulatory uncertainty” as the primary driver behind the exit, particularly concerns around the E.U. Artificial Intelligence Act that’s set to take full effect later this year. The scope and duration of the withdrawal aren’t exactly clear, but this could end up being the first domino to fall if other clinical AI startups decide to follow OE’s lead.
- Heidi + BILH: Beth Israel Lahey Health is rolling out Heidi enterprise-wide to ensure none of its clinicians have to work in their PJs. During a six-month pilot where a majority of the 1k providers adopted Heidi, 90% said they felt more present with patients and 3 in 4 reported a reduction in time spent outside of work hours. Those results inspired BILH to bring the same ambient AI capabilities to all 6,000 of its clinicians across 14 hospitals and 175 primary care practices.
- Employers Consider Switching Vendors: A report from the Purchaser Business Group on Health shows that rising healthcare costs are pushing employers to the switching point with their vendors. PGHB represents 40 of the largest employers in the U.S. and over $350B in combined annual spend on health services for their workers. This year, 37% of those employers have issued an RFP for medical benefits (up from 12% in 2024), and 23% have put one out for pharmacy benefits (up from 20%). The cost of health benefits is expected to climb another 6-8% this year, and the numbers aren’t adding up for a growing slice of PBGH members.
- Gravity Rail Rolls Onto the Tracks: Gravity Rail emerged from stealth with $2.75M in seed funding from Redesign Health to build a “model-agnostic operating system” for patient engagement. The platform lets healthcare orgs turn their protocols into live, AI-driven workflows across phone, SMS, email, and web channels – without writing code or relying on implementation vendors. Gravity Rail is positioning the platform as an ideal fit for any organization that manages patient or member engagement at scale, from payors and providers to digital health startups and contact centers.
- Availity Abrasion Index: Availity’s inaugural Abrasion Index revealed where payor-provider friction is hitting healthcare the hardest: denials, prior authorization, and payment integrity. Denials ranked as the most abrasive process for both payors and providers, with Availity finding that ~70% of denials are ultimately overturned, resulting in unnecessary headaches for both parties and avoidable costs to the tune of $18B per year. The report also showed that physicians are now spending 13 hours a week on prior auths, and 80% say long response times and denials are delaying care.
- Tom Finds His Voice: Lumeris equipped its AI-powered Primary Care as a Service platform, better known as Tom, with Native Audio to unlock more natural interactions with patients. The enhancements leverage Google Cloud and Gemini to give Tom real-time speech-to-speech capabilities, including lower latency, better conversational flow, and stronger noise handling. Native Audio builds on Lumeris’ mission to have Tom create meaningful dialogue that ensures patients feel heard and supported throughout their care journey.
- Providence Project Pixel: Providence flipped on 12 AI use cases in Epic as part of its cross-functional AI implementation program dubbed Project Pixel. The 51-hospital system deployed new AI tools across inpatient, ambulatory, and revenue cycle workflows, with guardrails and governance already baked in. Highlights include AI Text Assistant (rewriting communications in patient-friendly language), Inpatient Insights (auto-generating admission overviews), and Draft Hospital Course (drafting discharge summaries).
- Virtual Visits Hold Up in Neurology: New research in Neurology found that virtual visits are on par with in-person appointments for new neurology patients. Researchers analyzed over 16k matched visits during the pandemic and found that only a quarter of neurology patients had a follow-up appointment within 90 days, regardless of visit type. ED visits and hospitalizations were also the same between both groups, although in-person first visits were associated with more follow-ups for dementia and virtual visits led to more follow-ups for Parkinson’s disease.
- New Approach to AI Regulation: A thought-provoking essay in JAMA makes the case that it will take an entirely new regulatory approach to oversee autonomous AI that makes clinical decisions without physician oversight. The authors lay out a six-point approach to autonomous AI regulation, centered around licensure similar to human physicians and time-limited certifications. They also suggest the creation of an Office of Clinical AI Oversight within HHS to implement the new framework.
- Spotlight on Community Health Workers: The New York Times published a well-deserved spotlight on the community health workers that have been quietly closing care gaps for seniors. Despite being notoriously underfunded and inconsistently integrated into patient care, the article describes why CHWs are being increasingly relied on as a cost-effective way to improve outcomes by supporting areas like home visits, screenings, and transportation. The piece also does a good job tying in studies that demonstrate how CHWs are making an outsized impact for patients with serious illness.
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Abridge Named #1 Best in KLAS – Again
KLAS just named Abridge #1 Best in KLAS for Ambient AI for the second year in a row. The recognition was based on direct customer feedback from the nation’s largest and most complex health systems, which gave Abridge the highest overall satisfaction score and A+ ratings across Culture, Loyalty, Relationship, and Value. Discover why Abridge is the market-leading AI platform for clinical conversations.
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Privia Accelerates VBC Success With Navina
How do you give physicians new AI tools to accelerate VBC without slowing them down? Privia Health found its answer with Navina. They co-designed an under-one-hour training program that onboarded 800+ clinicians in the first year, driving 87% weekly active usage while providing clearer visibility into their patient panels. Read the full case study to see what it takes to make adoption stick and outcomes follow.
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- State of Payor Enrollment and Credentialing: Over half of provider orgs are losing revenue due to credentialing delays – with many missing out on over $1M annually. Medallion’s new report unpacks the forces quietly undermining operational and financial performance, and how leaders across the industry are addressing them. Head over to the full report to get insights tailored to your role and org type.
- Improving GLP-1 Treatment for the Long Term: Looking to make GLP-1 prescribing safer and more effective long term? Explore Withings’ suite of remote patient monitoring devices, designed to deliver the continuous, clinically relevant insights that care teams need to proactively monitor patients, identify risks early, and intervene with confidence.
- Better Health Through Virtual-First Primary Care: For patients, positive health outcomes are driven by strong relationships built on trust with health systems and providers. Hear how Ovatient’s fully EHR-integrated, virtual-first care approach is helping primary care patients like Tito Santiago reach their care goals and build a stronger relationship with The MetroHealth System.
- Evidence, in the Flow of Care: Heidi brings trusted guidelines and peer-reviewed research directly into clinical workflows so decisions don’t stall care. Clinicians get clear, evidence-based answers without leaving the conversation. No ads, no limits, and no outside interests getting in the way of care. Find out how with Heidi Evidence.
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