How One Leading DSO Used AI to Drive a 26% Increase in Crown Treatment Planning Rates Presented by Overjet

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Featured Story   Employers Cheer PBM Reform, But… The skinny The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2026 and a proposed Department of Labor rule introduce major PBM reforms, increasing transparency for employer-sponsored plans — but some key employer priorities remain unaddressed. What employers got PBMs must report detailed information to plan sponsors, including covered drugs, prescriptions dispensed by affiliated pharmacies and data on biologics and biosimilars. They also must pass along all rebates, discounts, fees and other payments directly to employers or group health plans. The DOL's proposed rule adds disclosure requirements, allows fiduciary audits and provides protections if PBMs fail to comply. What they didn't get Employers did not secure a ban on spread pricing in commercial plans, nor did PBMs become fiduciaries to their clients. Some Medicare Part D provisions, such as delinking PBM compensation from drug prices, do not extend to commercial plans. Soundbite "Even after both the regulation and the law are implemented, PBMs will still be allowed to engage in spread pricing and link their fees to the price of drugs in the commercial market," said Shawn Gremminger, president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. "The events of the past week are a huge leap forward, but much more needs to be done." – By Marissa Plescia Sponsored   How One Leading DSO Used AI to Drive a 26% Increase in Crown Treatment Planning Rates Presented by Overjet A recent webinar sponsored by Overjet offered insights from Affinity Dental Management executives on how AI-driven clinical intelligence software can transform DSOs.  Watch it now. Top Stories   Thunderstruck By OpenEvidence's $12B Valuation? Don't Be. Company profile OpenEvidence has raised nearly $700 million since it was founded in 2021. Last month, the Miami-based company closed a $250 million Series funding round that brought its valuation to a whopping $12 billion. The startup provides doctors with a free AI-powered search platform that gives them answers to medical questions — a platform they can access easily by signing up directly, without going through hospital IT or lengthy enterprise sales processes. More than 430,000 clinicians use the service regularly. Putting doctors first OpenEvidence CEO Daniel Nadler said his company built its product for doctors, not hospital CIOs — and that from its conception, the startup has been focused on earning clinician trust and making it clear the platform is designed to meet their needs. Appealing to doctors has led to clinical use at scale, Nadler added, saying that on average, OpenEvidence users ask a question at least once a day. Last year, an independent study involving more than 1,000 physicians across 106 specialties found that 45% of their reported AI usage on OpenEvidence. A revenue model that delivers It's clear that doctors are turning to OpenEvidence to answer their questions, but they're using it for free, which begs the question: How does this startup make money? And how does it make enough money to justify a $12 billion valuation? Ads, of course. OpenEvidence monetizes by selling ads on its platform to pharmaceutical companies. One of the startup's Series B investors noted that OpenEvidence is "one of the fastest companies" to hit $100 million in runrate revenue in less than 12 months — faster than other major AI players like Wiz, Sierra and Perplexity, and certainly the fastest among healthcare-focused AI companies. – By Katie Adams Roivant's Rare Disease Drug Shows Multi-Blockbuster Potential A first for a rare disease Patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis have no FDA-approved treatments. A Roivant Sciences drug looks like it could become the first one. The company reported brepocitinib achieved statistically significant results in a proof-of-concept Phase 2 study testing the once-daily pill as a treatment for the inflammatory skin disorder. According to Roivant, it's the first time an industry-sponsored clinical trial has succeeded in this indication. The company aims to start a Phase 3 test by the end of 2026. The drug Brepocitinib is a small molecule inhibitor of TYK2 andJAK1, two proteins that play key roles in inflammatory pathways. The class of FDA-approved JAK inhibitors includes drugs that treat common inflammatory disorders. With brepocitinib, Roivant aims to address rare diseases. Brepocitinib has already posted successful Phase 3 results in dermatomyositis, another rare inflammatory skin disorder. It's been submitted for FDA review in this indication. Roots at Pfizer Brepocitinib was originally developed by Pfizer. In 2021, Roivant subsidiary Priovant Therapeutics licensed rights to the drug in the U.S. and Japan. Pfizer holds rights to brepocitinib in the rest of the world. Pfizer also owns 25% of Priovant. Soundbite "These are some of the best anti-inflammatory drugs ever  discovered," Roivant CEO Matt Gline said of JAK inhibitors. "We're going to work on them for severe orphan disease, where there aren't other options." — By Frank Vinluan Startup Offering Non-Surgical Option for BPH to File for PMA Prevalence of an enlarged prostate in men According to Yale Medicine, about 50% of men between the agesof 51 and 60 have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) or an enlarged prostate. The problem among older men is worse, with 70% among those aged 60 to 69 and around 80% of men over 70 reporting the condition. For some, it's mainly an annoyance, but many experience a whole host of symptoms, including increased urinary frequency, urgency, and an inability to fully empty the bladder. In other words, BPH is a big problem for men. But one startup is developing a minimally invasive option for people who don't want to take drugs or undergo invasive surgery. What Butterfly Medical is developing? An Israeli company – Butterfly Medical — is developing the Butterfly Prostatic Retraction device, which allows urologists to deliver an implant endoscopically, inside the prostate, to relieve pressureon the urethra. In early January, Butterfly Medical announced that it had completed the final 12-month follow-up for all patients in its international pivotal clinical study of the device, a first-line interventional therapy (FIT)for BPH. It expects to submit it to the FDA for a premarket approval in early Q2. Here's why it matters There's no cutting, burning or removal of tissue compared with more invasive procedures such as surgical resection or laser therapy. Also, men preserve sexual function, something that drugs treating BPH negatively impact. But… There are competitors in the space like Teleflex's UroLift and Olympus' iTind device, both of which also promise no cutting, burning or removal of prostatic tissue. Soundbite "There is a significant gap in BPH care for men who are dissatisfied with medication but want to avoid the risks of invasive surgery. The Butterfly device offers a vital middle-ground solution," said Dr. James C. Ulchaker, chief medical officer for ButterflyMedical, previously vice-chairman and co-director of the prostate center at theCleveland Clinic's Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute. — By Arundhati Parmar   Video   Video: Doomed to deskilled dumb docs? Want to know more about deskilling? Read what a Lancet study found.

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Webinar   Healthcare Revenue Cycle Transformation: What Do Leaders Need from Tech Vendors? Join MedCity News for this webinar unpacking findings from The AI Index in RCM, a new Smarter Technologies–sponsored report based on a survey of 125 medical billing leaders.  Watch Now

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