Google launches healthcare AI agent with Epic, Oracle integrations. Becker's Healthcare November 10, 2026 Naomi Diaz Google Cloud has launched a healthcare-specific AI agent with read-only integrations for Epic and Oracle Health EHRs, allowing healthcare organizations to retrieve patient information and coordinate clinical and administrative workflows. The company unveiled Gemini for healthcare Nov. 10, introducing an AI platform designed to connect clinical, operational and administrative systems and execute multistep workflows with human oversight. The platform is initially available in preview. The platform connects to Epic through open.epic APIs and Oracle Health through Ignite APIs for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. The integrations allow authorized users to retrieve patient information, including active medical conditions, medications and recent laboratory results, without writing information back to the EHR. Google Cloud said additional connectivity with NextGen Healthcare is in development, with...

The human side of innovation: Patrick Leonard. Success in business comes down to more than numbers. But for Founder and CEO of CorroHealth Patrick Leonard, they certainly paint a compelling picture of the company's prosperity since its inception. In 2020, CorroHealth had roughly 2,000 employees. Today, that number has skyrocketed to more than 17,000 and revenue is approximately eight times what it was six years ago. But what the figures don't capture is the weight of keeping a business grounded in its original values when almost everything about its size and operations have changed. "The challenge is making the investments that growth requires without losing the entrepreneurial spirit that has helped shape what CorroHealth is today," Leonard tells The CEO Magazine. It's a balancing act that has defined his leadership and seen him win the Financial Performance category at The CEO Magazine's 2026 Executive of the Year Awards - United States. Getting healthcare right. CorroHealth operates in an area of healthcare that most patients never see, but one that providers rely on every day - revenue cycle management. Its services cover everything from securing insurance approvals and ensuring medical records are accurate to submitting claims and following up on outstanding payments. For providers, getting these processes right can make a considerable difference to their financial health. And for patients, it can mean fewer delays and less time waiting for necessary treatment. "Technology can have an impact across the revenue cycle, from prior authorization and clinical documentation to coding and claims follow-up," Leonard explains. "Interoperability is more than moving data between systems." "On the front end, automation can help streamline authorization and give clinicians timely feedback when the information in the chart supports the clinical criteria. That can help reduce delays and allow patients to be seen sooner. "Done well, these solutions can give clinicians more time to focus on patients." One of the biggest obstacles to making healthcare more efficient is surprisingly simple, he explains. The industry's multitude of computer systems don't always understand one another. A hospital might use one system to store patient records, while an insurer uses another to assess claims. Getting the right information between them can involve considerable effort, duplication and delays. "Successful implementation takes experience." CorroHealth is working to address this problem through CorroHealth IGNITE technology. At the heart of this solution is Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources or FHIR - pronounced 'fire'. A universal translator for healthcare, it allows different systems to share information securely and in a standardized format. CorroHealth IGNITE uses this approach to connect with major electronic health record systems like Epic and Oracle Health, making it easier for healthcare organizations to access the information they need when they need it. But Leonard knows that introducing new technology isn't always straightforward. "FHIR is an important direction for secure data exchange, but adoption is still developing and can vary across organizations," he points out. "Successful implementation takes experience, and healthcare organizations need confidence that integration will not place an unreasonable burden on their IT teams or disrupt day-to-day operations." His priority, then, is to make those connections useful in practice, rather than simply introducing another layer of technology. "As we see it, interoperability is more than moving data between systems," Leonard says. "It helps providers, vendors and other healthcare partners work from consistent information and coordinate their processes more effectively." Beyond the hype. With AI and automation transforming industries around the world, healthcare is no exception. At CorroHealth, technology is already helping teams review medical records, identify missing information, check coding accuracy and follow up on outstanding insurance claims. Alongside CorroHealth IGNITE, the company has developed VISION Clinical Validation Technology, PULSE Coding Automation Technology and PRISM Enterprise RCM Technology, bringing automation into different stages of the revenue cycle. Still, Leonard is careful to make any grand promises about what automation might achieve. "There is a lot we know, but there is a lot we are still learning about automation's potential," he admits. "We have to respond to potential customers and our partners' interest in automation without overpromising." It's a challenge he considers among the most significant of his time as CEO, alongside navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and the intensity it brought to working arrangements and recruitment. "We have to respond to potential customers and our partners' interest in automation without overpromising." Leonard also understands that conversations about automation can make employees feel uneasy about their future. "We must balance stakeholder expectations and address employees' concerns about what automation could mean for their work and their future," he says. "The way through that is to be thoughtful about where we apply automation and transparent about our approach. There's real opportunity, but realizing it depends on executing carefully." Built on relationships. While technology is an increasingly important part of CorreHealth's offering, Leonard doesn't want the company to be seen as just another software provider. "We are not trying to be a point solution," he says. "Our goal is to be a strategic partner across the revenue cycle, meeting healthcare organizations where they are." That means taking the time to understand each organization's circumstances rather than assuming the same approach will work everywhere. "Just as important, our delivery model emphasizes feedback, education and long-term partnership," he explains. The same emphasis on relationships extends to CorroHealth's own workforce, Leonard says. Managing a global team of thousands presents challenges that are vastly different from those he faced when the company began. "Part of the challenge is not changing the things people value about our culture just because we are a larger organization," he says. "For me, it's important to stay connected to what is happening and remain accessible to team members, whether they are in the United States or elsewhere." It's also why he's quick to share the credit for his 2026 Executive of the Year Awards recognition. "I am honored; however, I see it as a recognition of the team," Leonard says. "My success is driven by the team we've built and what they accomplish." In his view, the connection between a strong internal culture and successful client relationships is clear. "Transparency, commitment and honesty matter - and results matter too," he says. "You can't have strong partner relationships without great team members supporting and helping drive outcomes." People first. Looking ahead, Leonard expects automation to fundamentally change how healthcare organizations operate. But he doesn't believe that progress requires removing people from the equation. "We are investing in both technology and people," he says. "Automation will transform how work gets done, but we do not believe it will eliminate human contribution." Instead, the challenge is preparing employees to work differently, developing new skills and becoming willing to reconsider processes that may have been in place for years. "Automation won't work well if you simply try to fit it into existing processes," Leonard explains. "In many cases, you have to rethink and adapt the process to accommodate it." "We are investing in both technology and people." That willingness to rethink established practices will be important as CorroHealth continues to expand its technology capabilities and deepen its partnerships with healthcare organizations. But after six years of extraordinary growth, Leonard isn't interested in changing the principles that brought the business this far. "For me, it comes back to basics: stay true to our strategy, stay committed to our culture and do the right thing for our partners," he says. "We have to stay flexible as the market changes, but we can't lose sight of those principles. They do not guarantee continued growth, but they go a long way toward supporting it."

Why physician leadership is more important than ever. One voice needs to be increasingly present in the rooms where healthcare's future is being decided: the physician's. Healthcare is being redesigned in real time. Artificial intelligence is already changing how we document, diagnose, and make decisions. EPIC which serves more than 3,700 hospitals worldwide now accounts for nearly 50% of the acute care market and draws on data from more than 325 million patient records. At its annual user group meeting, EPIC announced new AI tools and capabilities that sift through a patient's medical records, unearthing subtle trends and comparing them across millions of patient encounters. This provides specific, actionable steps for physicians. Along with that, health systems are searching for new care models and financial pressures are forcing organizations to become more efficient. In the middle of all this change, one voice needs to be increasingly present in the rooms where healthcare's future is being decided: the physician's. presented by Discover the top AI-powered EAP providers for 2026. Compare platforms like Kyan Health and Spring Health on triage speed, global reach, and clinical quality to transform workforce wellbeing. I say that as someone who occupies two different seats. I am the CEO of a national physician practice, but I also continue to work across the Carolinas as a community emergency physician. One day I may be discussing strategy, technology or organizational performance. Another, I'm standing at the bedside trying to determine what a patient needs and how they can best navigate the crazy thing we call healthcare. Those experiences have convinced me that physician leadership has never been more important. We need translators One of the greatest challenges in healthcare is translating strategy into clinical reality. presented by Healthcare payments are no longer about transactions. It's about controlling the revenue cycle. And increasingly, that control is not sitting with ISOs. Too often, new technologies look good on paper but create friction when implemented. Or operational changes make sense on a spreadsheet but get in the way of clinicians actually providing care. Physicians who understand both medicine and business can help bridge that gap. That doesn't mean every hospital CEO needs to be a physician, nor does it mean physicians automatically make good executives. Clinical expertise and leadership expertise are different disciplines. But healthcare organizations need physicians involved meaningfully in decisions about how care is designed, delivered and improved. Physician leadership is also a workforce strategy Despite recent improvement, physician moral injury (the more accurate term for burnout) remains an enormous challenge. The American Medical Association reported that 41.9% of physicians experienced at least one symptom of burnout in 2025. We should pay attention not only to that number, but to what it tells us. Moral injury is not simply an individual resilience problem. It is the signal that systems, workflows and expectations are making it harder for clinicians to do the work they entered medicine to do. It's the canary in the coal mine. Sometimes the most valuable thing a physician leader brings to an executive conversation isn't another clinical opinion. It's the ability to say, "Here is how this decision will actually feel on the front line." That perspective can influence everything from staffing and scheduling to technology adoption, compensation models and organizational culture. It also helps build credibility with clinicians. People are more likely to embrace change when they believe the people designing it understand their work. Leadership has to extend beyond the bedside Medicine traditionally trains physicians to take responsibility for the patient in front of us. That responsibility remains sacred. But the challenges facing healthcare increasingly require physicians to think beyond individual encounters. We need physicians willing to understand operations, finance, technology, reimbursement, and organizational leadership. We need them serving on committees, leading departments, building companies, advising health systems and, yes, sitting in the C-suite. Because many of the decisions that ultimately determine the quality of a patient's care are made long before that patient enters an exam room. Healthcare's next chapter will require extraordinary innovation. But innovation alone will not determine whether we succeed. The real test will be whether we can translate that innovation into better care for patients and a more sustainable environment for the people providing it. Physicians should help lead that work. Yogin Patel, MD, MBA, FACEP, is Chief Executive Officer of ApolloMD, a physician-led, clinician-owned medical group that partners with hospitals and health systems nationwide. Dr. Patel continues to practice emergency medicine, which he believes provides an important connection between clinicians, administrators, and patients. He is passionate about keeping patients and clinicians at the center of healthcare's future. He earned his undergraduate degree, medical degree, and MBA from Duke University and completed his emergency medicine residency at Oregon Health & Science University, where he served as chief resident. This post appears through the MedCity Influencers program. 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