Healthcare & Health Industry Wire — Week of October 20, 2026: A rectal cancer approval that can replace surgery, $90 million for AI clinical notes, and a 12-hospital Chicago merger
This week's U.S. healthcare scan covers an immunotherapy approval that can replace surgery for some rectal cancers, $90 million for AI that drafts clinical notes, new Medicare plan rules on provider directories and drug middlemen, and a 12-hospital Chicago merger.
Coverage window: October 13 – 20, 2026
This edition covers U.S. healthcare developments published or completed between October 13 and October 20, 2026. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an immunotherapy that lets some rectal cancer patients skip surgery, and a nonprescription eye drop for redness. Suki raised $90 million for software that drafts clinical notes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule on Medicare Advantage directories and drug middlemen. Rush and Endeavor Health announced a 12-hospital merger.
1. Health-tech funding and products
Suki raises $90 million for software that drafts the visit note
Status: Suki announced the Series E round on October 13.
Suki raised $90 million in a Series E round led by Healthier Capital, Crosslink Capital and Hercules Capital. 1
Venrock, Flare Capital Partners, Hedosophia, Philips Ventures and Zoom Ventures, all existing investors, joined the round. 1
Suki sells ambient clinical documentation: software that listens to a patient visit and drafts the note for the clinician to review and sign. 1
The company says its tools supported 190% more patient encounters in 2026 than a year earlier, and that revenue doubled in 2025. 1
Those growth figures are Suki's own. The company has raised more than $250 million to date and says it works with more than 250 healthcare organizations. 1
Abby Care raises $82 million to pay family caregivers
Status: Abby Care announced the Series C round on October 15.
Abby Care raised $82 million in a Series C round led by Transformation Capital, with CVS Health Ventures, Frist Cressey Ventures and Pivotal. 1
Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital and Sequoia Capital, all existing investors, also joined. 1
The company trains family members to act as paid caregivers and pairs them with registered-nurse care managers. 1
Its software records the care delivered at home so a health plan can verify it. 1
Abby Care enrolls as a Medicaid provider in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. 1
Medicaid is the joint federal-state program for low-income people, and in those states it can pay a relative for home care. 1
Abby Care says it serves thousands of families there, and that members had 40% fewer reported hospitalizations in year one. Both figures are company-reported. 1
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Five smaller rounds in the same three days
- Allara, $30 million, October 14. Index Ventures and GV, Google's venture arm, led the round for a virtual women's health provider. Patients get an obstetrician-gynecologist, an endocrinologist and a dietitian on one team. 1
- Confido Health, $12.5 million, October 14. The Series A extension, led by Z47, funds artificial intelligence (AI) agents that handle scheduling, insurance checks and billing across more than 50 systems of record. 1
- Probably Genetic, $12 million, October 14. Threshold led the Series A. The company sells physician-ordered genetic tests to patients with undiagnosed rare disease and holds data from 130,000 patients. 1
- Readily, $11 million, October 14. Define Ventures led the Series A for software that maps a new CMS rule onto a health organization's policies and contracts. The company says its customers cover 25 million people. 1
- Allswell, $7 million, October 14. Six funds, including Rethink Impact and Magnify Ventures, backed a virtual therapy practice for LGBTQ+ patients that is in network with commercial and Medicaid plans. 1
2. Pharma and device FDA news
An immunotherapy approval that can replace surgery for some rectal cancers
Status: The FDA granted accelerated approval to Jemperli on October 19 for adults with previously untreated, locally advanced rectal cancer that is mismatch repair deficient or microsatellite instability-high.
The FDA approved Jemperli (dostarlimab-gxly), made by GSK, for adults with stage II or III rectal cancer that has not spread to distant organs. 2
Patients must test positive for one of two DNA-repair defects: mismatch repair deficiency (dMMR) or microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H). 2
Both terms describe tumors that cannot fix errors made when copying their DNA. Those tumors carry proteins the immune system can recognize. 2
Standard treatment combines chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Those steps can damage bowel, urinary and sexual function and fertility. 2
Surgery can also bring poor healing, leaks where the bowel is reconnected, or a permanent colostomy, in which waste leaves through an opening in the abdomen. 2
The decision rests on an interim look at AZUR-1 (NCT05723562), a phase 2 study of 154 patients. They received up to nine doses over six months. 2
After a median follow-up of more than two years, almost three-fourths had needed no surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. 2
Longer follow-up will show how long responses last and how often the cancer returns. 2
An earlier 50-patient study at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (NCT04165772) found no detectable cancer after treatment. 2
Of the 27 patients followed for at least three years, one had a recurrence in the same area. 2
About 3% of locally advanced rectal cancers carry one of the two defects, which narrows the approval to patients whose tumors test positive. 2
Side effects reported in at least 15% of these patients were fatigue, rash, diarrhea and itching. Jemperli can also turn the immune system against healthy organs. 2
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Two more drug decisions and a rare-disease framework
Status: The FDA acted on a bladder cancer indication on October 14, a nonprescription eye drop on October 16, and a rare-disease development framework on October 14.
- Anktiva, October 14. The FDA widened the label for nogapendekin alfa inbakicept-pmln, sold by ImmunityBio, to adults whose high-grade papillary bladder tumors did not respond to Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). In a 77-patient study, 62% had a complete response. 3
- Brytly, October 16. Alcon won approval for apraclonidine ophthalmic solution 0.125%, the first nonprescription eye drop built on apraclonidine, for redness from minor irritation. It is limited to two doses a day, for ages 12 and up. 4
- Rare Disease Framework Initiative, October 14. The FDA proposed a framework that tailors drug reviews to small patient populations, and will take public input at an October 28 meeting. The agency says about 5% of rare conditions have an approved treatment. 5
Three device clearances announced this week
Status: Haemonetics and Solventum announced clearances on October 19, and Masimo on October 17. The FDA's public device database had not yet posted decision records for the three.
- Haemonetics, PerQseal Elite. The Boston company won approval for a patch that seals an artery puncture from inside the vessel after heart and vascular procedures using 14- to 22-French sheaths. In the ELITE study, no patient had a major access-site complication. 6
- Solventum, Restrata with V.A.C. Therapy. The Eagan, Minnesota, company cleared combined use of its synthetic resorbable wound matrix with its negative pressure wound therapy, which draws fluid from a wound under suction. 7
- Masimo, atrial fibrillation detection on Radius VSM. The Irvine, California, company cleared a feature that reads pulse-wave data from a bedside monitor and flags rhythms that may need an electrocardiogram. Masimo reported 97% sensitivity and 100% specificity. 8
Two device safety actions
Status: The FDA posted an early alert on the Edwards Commander M delivery system on October 15, and updated instructions for the Philips Lumify on October 19.
Edwards Lifesciences asked customers on October 5 to pull four lots of its Commander M delivery system, which places a replacement mitral valve through a vein instead of open surgery. 9
The company had three reports of balloons bursting during inflation, and one death and one serious injury as of October 5. 9
A burst balloon can send debris into the bloodstream or leave the device stuck, which may require surgery in patients who cannot tolerate it. 9
The FDA posted updated use instructions for the Philips Lumify handheld ultrasound system on October 19. That correction follows the agency's October 9 early alert about a software fault that blocked scanning. 10
3. Insurance and policy
CMS proposes directory accuracy and drug-middleman rules for Medicare plans
Status: CMS issued the proposed rule on October 16; it was published in the Federal Register on October 20, with comments due December 15.
The proposed rule would carry out three sections of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, which apply to Medicare Advantage and Part D. Medicare Advantage is the privately run alternative to Original Medicare, and Part D is the drug benefit. 11
The first section, the REAL Health Providers Act, would require plans to verify and update provider directory listings at least every 90 days. 12
Plans would also report an accuracy score to CMS and display it on their own directories. A member who picked an out-of-network provider because of a wrong listing would pay only the in-network share. 12
Those changes start in contract year 2028. 12
The second would impose transparency and payment rules on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the companies that negotiate drug prices and run pharmacy networks for insurers. 11
PBMs would report their compensation and price performance to plan sponsors and CMS each year, and their payments would have to match fair market value for services. CMS could claw back money for violations. 11
The third would drop the generic drug copayment for full-benefit dual eligibles from $1 to zero, starting with plan years on January 1, 2028. These are people enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid who live at or below 100% of the federal poverty level. 12
CMS said a second proposed rule on Medicare Advantage and drug-benefit policy changes will follow later this fall. 11
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A second order creates an NIH division for women's health
Status: President Trump signed the executive order on October 19.
The order creates a division at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to be set up within 90 days, and a White House task force on women's health led by chief of staff Susie Wiles. 13
The division is meant to coordinate research on understudied conditions in women and to hold researchers accountable for leaving sex out of their analyses. 13
The order keeps the existing NIH Office of Research on Women's Health in place. HHS would pay only the task force's administrative costs, with no figure given for the new division's budget. 13
Rural awards continue
The Rural Health Transformation Program, the $50 billion effort created by the Working Families Tax Cuts Act, sent two more awards this window. 14
Ohio received $92 million on October 16 to link rural hospital networks and add magnetic resonance imaging, behavioral health and maternal care. 14
Maryland received more than $16 million on October 19 for rural workforce training and retention, aimed at nurses, physicians, dentists and other providers. 15
4. Hospital M&A
Rush and Endeavor Health plan a 12-hospital merger
Status: The two systems announced the merger on October 14 and expect to close in early 2027.
Chicago-based Rush University System for Health and Evanston, Illinois-based Endeavor Health plan a system of 12 hospitals, more than 400 care sites and 46,000 employees and clinicians. 16
The combined system would serve 2 million patients in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana. 16
Endeavor will fund a $1 billion investment as part of the deal: $300 million for community impact, $500 million for academics and research, and $200 million for quality care and innovation. 16
The combined system will use the Rush name, chosen for its academic reputation. 16
Endeavor chief executive Gerald Gallagher will run the combined system. Rush chief executive Omar Lateef will lead Rush through the close, then become chief executive emeritus and strategic adviser to Gallagher. 16
The board will hold 20 seats, 10 from each system, chaired by a Rush representative. 16
The year's deal count passes 2025 with a quarter to spare
Kaufman Hall counted 16 hospital transactions announced in the third quarter of 2026, after 22 in the first quarter and 18 in the second. 17
That puts 2026 at 56 deals against 46 in all of 2025, which was the lowest annual count since the firm began tracking in 2011. 17
Third-quarter deals carried $8.2 billion in combined revenue, and the average seller had about $586 million in annual revenue. 17
For the third quarter in a row, the quarter held more than one megamerger, which Kaufman Hall defines as a deal where the smaller party tops $1 billion in annual revenue. 17
Independent nonprofit systems were the buyer in 8 of the 16 deals. 17
Kaufman Hall points to two motives. Large systems are buying to secure commitments and add capabilities, while midsize systems are transacting "before their options narrow." 17
Three smaller transactions
- Parkview Health to acquire Ovation Healthcare, October 16. Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Parkview signed an agreement to buy Ovation, a Brentwood, Tennessee, shared-services company working with more than 500 healthcare organizations. Ovation keeps its name and board, with a close expected in the coming weeks. 18
- El Centro Regional Medical Center transfers to a healthcare district, October 13. The El Centro, California, city council voted unanimously to hand the hospital and its assets to the Imperial Valley Healthcare District. The transfer was expected to be finalized October 15. 19
- Baystate Health and Mercy Medical Center stay on schedule for November 1. Trinity Health of New England told Becker's on October 19 that the transfer of Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, to Baystate Health remains set for November 1, pending regulatory approval. 20
5. Patient health tip: how to use a redness-relieving eye drop
The FDA's October 16 approval of Brytly adds a new nonprescription drop for red eyes. It is the first over-the-counter drop made with apraclonidine, a drug already used at higher doses to lower eye pressure in glaucoma. 4
Red eye usually comes from swollen blood vessels on the white of the eye. Dryness, dust, allergies, contact lenses and tiredness all set it off. 21
Decongestant drops such as tetrahydrozoline clear that redness quickly. The American Academy of Ophthalmology warns that the eye can turn redder than before once the drop wears off, and that rebound redness can worsen with repeated use. 21
Four habits keep the drop from backfiring. Use it occasionally, and stop after three days if redness persists or worsens. 4
Take contact lenses out first and wait 10 minutes before putting them back in. Space any other eye drop five minutes apart, and read the Drug Facts label before the first dose. 4
Artificial tears are the safer first try for redness driven by dryness, because they add moisture without narrowing blood vessels. People with narrow-angle glaucoma should skip decongestant drops, which can trigger angle-closure glaucoma. 21
Call a doctor for eye pain, a change in vision, redness that never clears, thick discharge or an eye injury. Those signs point past simple irritation to infection, inflammation or glaucoma. 21
Bottom line
Three things to watch. Comments on the Medicare Advantage directory and drug-middleman rule close December 15, and the rule would take effect in 2028. The Rush–Endeavor merger is expected to close in early 2027. Jemperli's rectal cancer approval is accelerated, so GSK must keep following patients to show the benefit lasts.
References
- 1Fierce Healthcare Fundraising Tracker '26
fiercehealthcare.com
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- 16Rush, Endeavor to merge
beckershospitalreview.com
- 17Hospital M&A on pace for busiest year since pandemic as megamergers mount
beckershospitalreview.com
- 18Parkview Health to acquire Ovation Healthcare
beckershospitalreview.com
- 19California hospital gets OK to transfer to healthcare district
beckershospitalreview.com
- 20Baystate takeover of Mercy Medical on track for Nov. 1
beckershospitalreview.com
- 21Redness-Relieving Eye Drops
aao.org
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