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By Jason Carney, SVP Clinical Strategy
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Clinical Strategy

Women’s health is finally getting the investment and attention it deserves, and HLTH 2026 is where that momentum comes together with AI and the business of care. I’m excited to be in Las Vegas, November 15–18, to connect with the leaders turning that attention into better outcomes.

What I’m Looking Forward to at HLTH 2026

  1. Closing care gaps that start in the lab. I’m looking forward to connecting with leaders focused on addressing gaps in women’s health that too often go undetected. Earlier identification of conditions like anemia can make a meaningful difference in patient outcomes. I’m excited to explore how we can continue advancing Clinical IQ™ to make early detection and intervention a routine part of care.
  2. Where clinical quality and financial performance meet. When a lab result leads to the right action at the right time, we can reduce unnecessary testing, avoid downstream costs, and improve patient outcomes. Those are the conversations I want to be part of, especially as we look to expand Clinical IQ™ into the payer market, connecting health plans and providers to identify care gaps, improve quality, and drive better outcomes across patient populations.
  3. Seeing AI move from the keynote to the bedside. I’m most looking forward to seeing how healthcare organizations are moving beyond the conversation around AI and putting it into clinical practice. That’s exactly what we’re building with Clinical IQ, turning lab data into actionable intelligence that helps clinicians make better decisions and improve patient care.

Lab data is the earliest signal in healthcare, and it’s time health plans put it to work.

About Clinical IQ™

hc1 Clinical IQ™ turns lab results and clinical data into action, using clinician-built AI to help care teams close gaps across anemia management, patient blood management, women’s health, and lab stewardship. It works inside the EHR, so insights appear where teams already work.

Going to HLTH 2026?

Book time with me to talk women’s health, lab data, and what Clinical IQ can do for payers and providers.

Book Time With Me

Or learn more about hc1 Clinical IQ™.

By John Markloff, VP of Data Strategy
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Data Strategy

As healthcare’s leading innovation event, HLTH 2026 brings together industry leaders shaping the future of care. I’m excited to be in Las Vegas, November 15–18, to connect with peers and explore the latest innovations in healthcare.

What I’m Looking Forward to at HLTH 2026

  1. Building meaningful connections. I’m eager to connect and collaborate with peers who share a commitment to using lab data as proactive intelligence to improve patient outcomes.
  2. Integrating AI into clinical decision-making. Looking forward to seeing how forward-thinking healthcare leaders are leveraging clinical data to detect risks earlier, address gaps in care, and guide actionable next steps for providers.
  3. Accelerating time to diagnosis and care. I’m excited to explore how lab data can help life sciences and diagnostics companies better understand testing trends and deliver timely, actionable insights to clinicians, ultimately helping patients get the care they need sooner.

About Signal IQ

Signal IQ™ provides de-identified, tokenized real-world lab data to help life sciences and healthcare organizations uncover insights from testing patterns and patient journeys.

Our dataset includes 95M+ unique patient profiles and 12B+ historical lab results spanning more than a decade, with 100M+ new lab results added each month.

Going to HLTH 2026?

Book time with me to talk lab data, AI, and earlier clinical signals.

Book Time With Me

Or learn more about hc1 Signal IQ.

By Tiffany Hall, RN
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Lab data flows through your health system every hour of every day, from inpatient units, ambulatory clinics, pre-surgical screenings, and reference labs. Most organizations lack the infrastructure to act on that stream the moment it matters.

So care gaps persist. Not because clinicians lack skill or dedication, but because the signal is buried under volume. A pre-surgical patient’s low hemoglobin. A diabetic patient overdue for screening. A redundant panel ordered three times in a week. Each of these lives inside a data set too large for any human team to monitor in real time.

By the time a gap surfaces through manual review, it has often already widened: the anemic patient reaches the OR untreated, the chronic condition escalates, the unnecessary test has already been billed and forgotten. In my conversations with health system leaders across patient blood management, anemia, women’s health, and lab stewardship programs, the same story repeats. Up to 30% of all lab tests and blood transfusions performed in the United States are considered unnecessary or avoidable. That represents billions of dollars in wasted resources and exposes patients to potential complications and delayed care. To solve it, healthcare leaders must shift from retrospective reporting to proactive diagnostic stewardship.

Key Takeaways

  • Up to 30% of lab tests and blood transfusions in the U.S. are unnecessary or avoidable
  • Diagnostic stewardship fails when guidelines cannot reach the clinician at the moment of the order, not because guidelines are missing
  • hc1 Clinical IQ™ applies patented, clinician-built AI across Anemia Management, Patient Blood Management, Women’s Health, and Lab Stewardship
  • Health systems using this approach have documented a 30% to 50% decrease in blood transfusions
  • Average annual savings of $500K to $2M through unnecessary test elimination

What Lab Intelligence Actually Does

The pattern is consistent: data exists, but no process connects it to action at the right moment. Clinical IQ closes that gap by ingesting EHR data, lab results, and full clinical history, then applying patented AI to interpret that information the way an expert clinician would, at machine scale and machine speed. Instead of waiting for a person to notice a risk, it continuously analyzes data, flags what matters, and triggers coordinated action inside workflows your teams already use.

That intelligence focuses on four areas where gaps most often hide.

Four Areas Where Care Gaps Hide

1. Anemia management for pre-surgical patients. Preoperative anemia is a common and preventable driver of poor surgical outcomes, raising infection risk, lengthening stays, and increasing transfusion rates. Identifying and treating these patients before surgery typically requires a time-intensive, multidisciplinary effort across the EHR, phone, and paperwork. Lab intelligence automates that entire pathway, identifying affected patients, prioritizing the most urgent cases, and initiating treatment coordination well before they reach the hospital door.

2. Maternal health and obstetric risk. Risk during pregnancy and the postpartum period, including hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, and thromboembolic events, can escalate rapidly. Most care teams still rely on point-in-time assessments at scheduled visits. Lab intelligence screens patients for risk as soon as pregnancy is documented in the EHR, capturing signals from the first trimester and updating risk scores continuously against ACOG-defined thresholds. Every alert surfaces with ICD-10-coded recommendations and named guideline citations from ACOG Practice Bulletins and SABM anemia thresholds, so teams can act with confidence, not just awareness.

3. Lab test utilization. A significant share of lab orders are unnecessary, redundant, or outdated. Lab intelligence analyzes ordering patterns across providers, specialties, and locations to identify exactly where overutilization is happening and why, giving teams the visibility to eliminate waste without compromising tests that genuinely guide care.

4. Chronic condition screening. Chronic conditions demand ongoing monitoring, but screening gaps accumulate quietly when data sits in disparate systems. By cross-referencing lab values and clinical history, the Clinical IQ platform flags patients who are overdue, at risk, or trending toward complications, enabling proactive intervention rather than reactive response.

From Alert to Action

Most clinical decision support stops at the alert. Lab intelligence goes further. When a pre-surgical patient with untreated anemia is identified, it does not simply raise a flag. It initiates evidence-based treatment recommendations, supports care coordination and insurance authorization, and schedules follow-up labs post-optimization, all automatically, inside existing workflows. Clinicians stay in control of the decision. The platform absorbs the coordination work that causes gaps to widen.

Outcomes Across Deployments

Across health system deployments, Clinical IQ consistently delivers measurable results:

  • 40% improvement in care gap closure rates, moving overdue and at-risk patients back into active care
  • 30-50% decrease in unnecessary blood transfusions, reducing patient risk and pressure on a scarce resource
  • 70% reduction in inappropriate test ordering from baseline
  • $500K to $2M in annual test utilization savings per health system

These outcomes build on each other. Fewer unnecessary transfusions mean safer patients and lower acquisition costs. Fewer inappropriate tests mean faster, more accurate results and lower spend. Higher care gap closure means stronger quality scores and better patient outcomes.

Built Into Your EHR

Technology only delivers value if your teams use it. Clinical IQ integrates natively with Epic and athenahealth, with no new logins, no parallel systems, and no added clicks. Insights and automated actions appear where teams already work, keeping adoption high and reducing change management friction. Most health systems see measurable ROI within 90 days of go-live.

See Clinical IQ™ on your own data

Connect with our team to see where clinical waste is hiding across anemia, patient blood management, women’s health, and lab stewardship, and how much of it Clinical IQ™ can help you recover.

Request Your Free Savings Analysis

Frequently asked questions

What EHR systems does Clinical IQ integrate with?
+
Clinical IQ integrates natively with Epic and athenahealth, embedded in existing clinical workflows with no separate login or parallel system required for care teams.
How quickly can a health system expect measurable results?
+
Most health systems see measurable ROI within 90 days of implementation, with care gap closure and test utilization improvements visible early in that window.
Where should a health system start?
+

The best first step is a conversation with the hc1 team. We will assess your current Surgical DRG volumes, blood utilization patterns, and blood acquisition spend to establish a clear baseline. From there, hc1 identifies your specific savings opportunity and infusion margin potential, both driven by Clinical IQ.

Your lab data already reflects the health of your patients. The question is whether your organization is acting on it in time. Connect with our team to see how lab intelligence can close care gaps and unlock measurable savings for your health system.

Tiffany Hall is a nationally recognized leader in Patient Blood Management (PBM), bringing over 35 years of clinical nursing experience and deep expertise in anemia management and transfusion safety. As Clinical Technology Director and Product Owner for MyBloodHealth (MBH) and HERCARE, Tiffany leads the design and delivery of technology solutions that advance blood health and maternal care outcomes. Tiffany began her PBM career at Eastern Maine Medical Center and went on to serve as Clinical Director of PBM and Transfusion Safety Officer for a multi-hospital system in Florida. Since joining she has continued to shape innovative, system-wide PBM strategies grounded in clinical excellence and data-driven insights.

By Jason Carney, SVP Clinical Strategy
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Healthcare systems are generating more data than ever before. Every day, millions of data points, from test results and utilization patterns to patient clinical histories, flow through laboratories.

Yet despite this volume, much of the intelligence remains locked away in disconnected systems and manual workflows. That fragmentation leads to a costly and persistent problem: clinical waste that erodes both patient outcomes and health system margins.

In my conversations with health system leaders across patient blood management, anemia, women’s health, and lab stewardship programs, the same story repeats. Up to 30% of all lab tests and blood transfusions performed in the United States are considered unnecessary or avoidable.1,2 That represents billions of dollars in wasted resources and exposes patients to potential complications and delayed care. To solve it, healthcare leaders must shift from retrospective reporting to proactive diagnostic stewardship.

Key Takeaways

  • Up to 30% of lab tests and blood transfusions in the U.S. are unnecessary or avoidable
  • Diagnostic stewardship fails when guidelines cannot reach the clinician at the moment of the order, not because guidelines are missing
  • hc1 Clinical IQ™ applies patented, clinician-built AI across Anemia Management, Patient Blood Management, Women’s Health, and Lab Stewardship
  • Health systems using this approach have documented a 30% to 50% decrease in blood transfusions
  • Average annual savings of $500K to $2M through unnecessary test elimination

The cost of clinical variability

Clinical variability occurs when there is a lack of standardized, evidence-based, data-driven decision-making across providers and locations. Without clear visibility into ordering patterns, health systems struggle to identify duplicate testing, inappropriate workups, and excessive blood utilization.

An incomplete anemia workup during pregnancy might lead to repeated patient visits and delayed surgical procedures. An unnecessary blood transfusion introduces inherent clinical risks and added cost. The challenge is rarely a lack of clinical guidelines, since organizations like the AABB provide robust frameworks.3 What health systems lack is the ability to surface those guidelines seamlessly at the point of care, where they can actually change a clinician’s next decision.

20.6%

of lab tests ordered are clinically inappropriate

$75B+

wasted annually on unnecessary services in U.S. healthcare

90%+

of EHR drug safety alerts are overridden by clinicians

30-50%

decrease in transfusions documented with this approach

Sources: Zhi et al., PLOS ONE 2013; Shrank et al., JAMA 2019; van der Sijs et al., JAMIA 2006; hc1 client results.

The challenge is rarely a lack of clinical guidelines. It is the inability to surface them at the moment they can change a clinician’s next decision.

Why traditional stewardship programs fall short

Most stewardship programs run on a monthly or quarterly review cycle. A utilization committee reviews aggregate data, identifies patterns, and issues guidance to department chairs. That model has three structural failures.

Latency. Clinical decisions happen in real time. A committee that meets monthly cannot interrupt a transfusion ordered this morning for a stable patient who does not meet evidence-based thresholds.

Visibility gaps. Duplicate testing happens across departments and facilities inside the same system. Without integrated cross-system data, a morning ICU team orders a panel the overnight team drew three hours earlier.

Alert fatigue. Stewardship alerts delivered through the EHR are routinely dismissed. Research published in JAMIA found clinicians overrode 90 to 96% of drug safety alerts.4 When alerts fire indiscriminately, the ones that matter disappear into the noise.

Introducing clinician-built AI

To address these challenges, hospitals require more than generic analytics dashboards. They need actionable, agentic intelligence built around the clinical questions that actually move outcomes and cost.

hc1 Clinical IQ™ is designed specifically to translate predictive intelligence into proactive patient care. Across four service lines, the platform leverages patented, clinician-built AI algorithms to continuously analyze EHR data, lab results, and patient records. It identifies anomalies and flags risks before they impact patient outcomes, and before they impact the bottom line.

01

Anemia Management

Flag surgical patients with untreated anemia to reduce transfusion needs.

02

Patient Blood Management

Real-time monitoring against evidence-based transfusion guidelines.

03

HerCare

Identify at-risk maternal patients through real-time EHR lab data monitoring.

04

Lab Stewardship

AI-powered duplicate test detection that cuts costs and improves efficiency across every location and provider.

Instead of waiting for a monthly utilization committee meeting to review stale data, clinical leaders receive near real-time insights. That allows organizations to monitor inappropriate testing, track duplicate test reductions, and measure the impact of their stewardship programs on both patient safety and the bottom line.

Traditional stewardship hc1 Clinical IQ™
Data timing 30 to 90 days old at review Near real-time
Detection Manual chart audits and sampling Pattern recognition across every provider and location
Alerting Static rules that fire for everyone Risk-stratified and grounded in that patient’s own data
Intervention Guidance memo to department chairs Automated task, outreach, or authorization workflow
Measurement Retrospective committee reporting Continuous tracking with per-case attribution

Moving from insight to automated action

Identifying waste is only the first step. The true value of hc1 Clinical IQ™ lies in its ability to automate workflows, close care gaps, and drive intervention where it matters most, at the bedside.

When the AI detects an incomplete diagnostic workup or an overdue screening, it triggers automated actions. That can include sending a secure SMS to a patient, initiating an insurance authorization, or scheduling a follow-up laboratory appointment. By handling the manual administrative burden, the platform allows clinical teams to focus entirely on patient care.

The outcomes are highly measurable, and they matter to both the CMO and the CFO. Health systems utilizing this approach have documented a 30% to 50% decrease in blood transfusions, improved compliance with evidence-based guidelines, and an average of $500K to $2M in annual savings through unnecessary test elimination. A health-system-wide patient blood management program studied in Transfusion reported a 28% reduction in units transfused alongside a significant improvement in patient mortality, which is consistent with what we see in the field.5

A strategic asset for health systems

Diagnostic data is a strategic asset, not an operational byproduct. When properly refined and integrated, it has the power to close care gaps, personalize treatment, and significantly improve hospital margins.

That is the thesis behind our Clinical IQ suite. By embracing AI-powered intelligence across anemia, patient blood management, women’s health, and lab stewardship, healthcare systems can eliminate the friction of disconnected workflows, standardize clinical practice, and ensure every patient receives the precise care they need, at a cost the system can sustain.

See Clinical IQ™ on your own data

See where clinical waste is hiding across anemia, patient blood management, women’s health, and lab stewardship, and how much of it Clinical IQ™ can help you recover.

Request a Demo

Frequently asked questions

Which clinical areas does hc1 Clinical IQ™ support?+
Clinical IQ operates across four service lines: Anemia Management, Patient Blood Management, Women’s Health, and Lab Stewardship. Each applies the same underlying clinician-built AI to a distinct set of clinical questions, from custom anemic care plans and transfusion thresholds to prenatal screening gaps and duplicate test ordering.
How is Clinical IQ™ different from the clinical decision support in our EHR?+
EHR-native decision support generally runs static rules inside a single instance, which produces high alert volume and limited visibility across facilities. Clinical IQ™ sits on harmonized laboratory data spanning instruments, LIS platforms, and sites, so it can identify duplicates and inappropriate orders that never surface in one EHR instance. It also risk-stratifies before alerting, which reduces alert volume, and it triggers downstream action rather than stopping at the notification.
Does AI replace clinical judgment in diagnostic stewardship?+
No. Clinical IQ™ augments clinical decision-making rather than replacing it. The platform surfaces the information clinicians need in the moment and removes friction from acting on evidence-based guidelines. Final clinical decisions remain with the treating physician, pathologist, or transfusion medicine specialist.

Jason Carney is SVP, Clinical Strategy at hc1. He is responsible for product development, innovation, and go-to-market strategy for hc1’s Clinical solution portfolio. Jason is the co-developer, co-author, and patent holder for the MyBloodHealth® platform.

References

  1. Zhi M, Ding EL, Theisen-Toupal J, Whelan J, Arnaout R. The landscape of inappropriate laboratory testing: a 15-year meta-analysis. PLOS ONE. 2013;8(11):e78962.
  2. Shrank WH, Rogstad TL, Parekh N. Waste in the US Health Care System: Estimated Costs and Potential for Savings. JAMA. 2019;322(15):1501-1509.
  3. American Association of Blood Banks. Patient Blood Management. 2023. aabb.org
  4. van der Sijs H, Aarts J, Vulto A, Berg M. Overriding of Drug Safety Alerts in Computerized Physician Order Entry. JAMIA. 2006;13(2):138-147.
  5. Leahy MF, Hofmann A, Towler S, et al. Improved outcomes and reduced costs associated with a health-system-wide patient blood management program. Transfusion. 2017;57(6):1347-1358.
  6. Patel R, Fang FC. Diagnostic Stewardship: Opportunity for a Lab-Centered Antimicrobial Stewardship. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2020;71(8):2029-2030.

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Case Study

$15.8 Million in Lab Savings. Less Than Two Years. One Health System’s Story.

Most health systems assume they’re getting reasonable pricing on their lab contracts. Some have run their own analyses. A few have dedicated supply chain teams spending months on vendor reviews.

One large national health system with hospitals spread across dozens of states did all of that. And still left tens of millions of dollars on the table.

Key Takeaways

  • $15.8M in verified lab savings achieved in under two years
  • $11.2M saved through reagent and service contract optimization across 9 lab categories
  • $4.6M in capital equipment savings from an often-overlooked opportunity
  • $2M+ in additional savings opportunities are currently in progress
  • 350+ hospital partners contribute benchmark data that has helped deliver $250M+ in documented client savings

That changed when they partnered with the hc1 Source IQ™ team. In under two years, their labs have captured over $15.8 million in verified savings across reagent contracts, service agreements, and capital equipment. Not projected. Not modeled. Completed.

$15.8M

Total verified savings

350+

Hospital partners in the benchmark network

<2 yrs

Time to capture results

The Organization

Large health systems negotiating without market-wide benchmark data consistently pay more than necessary, even when their internal teams are skilled and diligent. This health system operates hundreds of facilities across the country: acute care hospitals, behavioral health centers, freestanding emergency departments, and ambulatory locations. Lab supply spend at that scale accumulates fast. And at that scale, even small gaps between current pricing and true market benchmarks translate into millions of dollars left behind every year.

The challenge is knowing where those gaps actually exist, and having the category expertise to act before a contract window closes.

The hc1 Advantage: Network Scale No Individual System Can Match

hc1 works with 350+ hospital partners across the country, with over $250 million in total documented savings delivered across its client base. That network creates a category-level benchmark database that no individual organization, regardless of size or sophistication, can build from its own data alone. When a health system engages the hc1 Source IQ team, they are not getting a software tool pointed at their spend. They are getting visibility into what the entire market is actually paying, by category, by vendor, by contract structure.

That is the structural advantage. And it is the reason results like this are possible.

The Challenge: Good Pricing Is Not the Same as Great Pricing

This organization is sophisticated. Their supply chain and lab teams already negotiated contracts and tracked spending carefully. On the surface, many of their vendor agreements looked competitive.

But there is a difference between pricing that looks good in isolation and pricing that is elite relative to the actual market.

That gap is exactly where hc1 operates. The Source IQ team works with lab and supply chain data across hundreds of health systems, giving them category-level benchmarks that no individual organization can build from their own data alone. When this health system brought hc1 in to take a closer look, what came back was a detailed picture of where real savings were sitting, across more categories than anyone anticipated.

The key factor on the client side: they were open to it. When the analysis pointed to a new direction, their team was willing to act.

What the Savings Actually Look Like

The results span two distinct types of savings, which is part of what makes this story different.

Reagent & Service Contracts

$11.2 Million

The bulk of the savings came from renegotiating and optimizing reagent and service contracts across major lab categories. Chemistry and immunoassay represented the single largest opportunity, a category where annual spend runs into the tens of millions and where even modest pricing improvements generate outsized returns.

The categories where hc1 identified and captured savings include:

  • Chemistry and immunoassay
  • Molecular diagnostics
  • Rapid molecular testing
  • Blood banking
  • Hematology
  • Reference laboratory services
  • Rapid kits and point-of-care testing
  • Quality control supplies
  • Microbiology

Across these categories, savings were not uniform. Some came from contract renegotiations as existing agreements came up for renewal. Others came from identifying vendors willing to compete for the health system’s business at pricing benchmarks their current supplier had not offered. In the case of reference lab services alone, the team identified and locked in over $600,000 in annual savings against a spend base where this organization already believed their pricing was strong.

That is the hc1 benchmark in action. You can be a good negotiator and still not know what elite looks like.

Capital Equipment

$4.6 Million

Most health systems leave capital savings behind entirely. Here is why: lab supply chain conversations typically center on reagents and service contracts. Capital equipment, including analyzers, instruments, and high-value systems, is treated as a separate procurement process handled outside of traditional supply chain optimization. The result is that instrument pricing almost never gets subjected to the same benchmark rigor as consumable spend.

The hc1 Source IQ team operates across both. And here, that extended view produced $4.6 million in capital equipment savings, with hematology and chemistry representing the largest opportunities. A significant portion came from blood banking capital investment as well.

Total Verified Savings

$15.8 Million

Combined, this health system has completed over $15.8 million in savings across both reagent and capital categories in under two years. Those savings flow through corporate contracts that benefit every facility in the system, regardless of location. And they are not done. Additional savings in distribution and supply contracts are tracking toward another $2 million as current engagements continue.

Why Results Came in Under Two Years, Not Five

Health systems that engage hc1 Source IQ typically see meaningful savings in the first contract cycle, not after years of internal analysis. The reason is twofold: benchmark data that already exists at network scale, and a client team willing to act on what the data shows.

An individual health system negotiating alone is working without full market visibility. They know what they pay. They do not know what 350+ other systems pay for the same category with the same vendor. hc1 does. That intelligence gap is the difference between reasonable pricing and elite pricing, and it cannot be closed by adding more internal headcount or better internal software.

The second factor is timing. Lab supply savings are not available in equal measure at all times. Contracts have terms. Vendor relationships have renewal windows. The organizations that capture the most savings are the ones that move when a window opens.

This health system moved. Their team was responsive to recommendations, willing to renegotiate or transition to a new vendor when the analysis supported it, and trusted the process. That trust was not blind. The hc1 team brought specific data, category expertise, and a clear recommendation at each decision point. But the client had to be willing to act on it.

That combination of hc1’s benchmark intelligence and the client’s responsiveness is why $15.8 million in savings came together in under two years rather than over five.

Why DIY Lab Supply Chain Optimization Has a Ceiling

DIY lab supply chain optimization, whether through internal analytics teams or general-purpose software, consistently underperforms against a dedicated benchmarking partner. The ceiling is not effort or intention. It is data. An organization can build a sophisticated internal tool and still not know what its peer systems are actually paying, what a specific vendor’s real pricing floor is, or which categories have remaining room in the current contract cycle.

The hc1 Source IQ team works alongside your team as an extension of your supply chain function. The platform provides the analytical infrastructure. The people provide the expertise, the market intelligence, and the hands-on support to turn analysis into signed agreements and documented savings. That combination of proprietary benchmark data plus category experts who have negotiated these contracts hundreds of times is what creates outcomes that internal teams and software alone cannot replicate.

At this health system, that combination produced results that neither data alone nor internal team capacity alone would have generated on the same timeline.

What Your Organization Could Capture

The health system in this case study had strong internal supply chain capabilities and already believed their pricing was competitive. They still found $15.8 million in savings that had not been captured.

That pattern holds across organizations of every size. The gap between current pricing and elite-tier benchmarks exists whether you have 5 hospitals or 100. The categories where savings live, including chemistry, molecular, and capital equipment, are consistent. What varies is how much is available and how quickly it can be captured based on your current contract landscape.

The only way to know what your number looks like is to look.

hc1 offers a complimentary savings assessment for health systems ready to find out.

No obligation. No upfront cost. Just a clear picture of where your lab supply spend stands relative to benchmark, and what a partnership with the hc1 Source IQ team could deliver.

Request Your Free Assessment

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to see lab supply chain savings with hc1?+

Most health systems begin seeing verified savings within the first contract renewal cycle. The national health system in this case study captured $6 million in completed savings in 2025 and $9.8 million through May 2026, meaningful results in under two years, driven by benchmark-informed negotiations and a client team ready to act.

Is DIY lab supply chain optimization worth it?+

Internal analytics can surface spending patterns, but they cannot close the benchmark gap. Knowing what you pay is not the same as knowing what 500 other health systems pay for the same contract. Without network-scale benchmarking, even sophisticated internal teams negotiate without full market visibility and consistently leave savings behind.

How does capital equipment fit into lab supply chain savings?+

Capital equipment, including analyzers, instruments, and high-value lab systems, is typically procured through a separate process from reagent and service contracts, which means it rarely receives the same benchmarking rigor. hc1 Source IQ applies the same market intelligence to instrument procurement, and in this engagement that extended view produced $4.6 million in savings that would otherwise have been left on the table.

What does an hc1 lab savings assessment include?+

The complimentary savings assessment reviews your current lab supply spend against hc1’s category-level benchmarks across reagents, service contracts, and capital equipment. It identifies where your pricing sits relative to the market and estimates what a Source IQ engagement could deliver, with no obligation and no upfront cost.

By Sherri Ozawa, MSN, RN
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Clinical Strategy

The ANA Has Recognized PBM Nursing as a Specialty. Here Is What Health Systems Need to Do Now.

On June 17, 2026, the American Nurses Association Board of Directors formally recognized Patient Blood Management (PBM) nursing as a nursing specialty, approved the submitted PBM Nursing Scope of Practice Statement, and acknowledged the specialty standards and accompanying competencies.

This is not a symbolic designation. It creates a formal career pathway for PBM nurses, a defined credentialing framework, and a clearer standard against which health systems will be measured. The question is not whether to respond. It is how quickly and how well.

Key Takeaways

  • The ANA formally recognized Patient Blood Management nursing as a nursing specialty, approving its scope of practice, standards, and competencies
  • Fewer than 100 U.S. hospitals currently operate formal anemia management programs, leaving most health systems without the infrastructure the new specialty demands
  • AI-powered clinical intelligence platforms like hc1 Clinical IQ™ can help health systems close that gap, reducing transfusion rates, avoiding complications, and generating documented ROI.
  • Health systems that build robust PBM programs now will gain a competitive advantage in talent recruitment, accreditation, and payer conversations

Why This Recognition Matters

PBM nursing recognition gives health systems a clear framework for building, credentialing, and sustaining PBM nursing roles. That matters because the scale of the problem demands a specialized, accountable response.

30-40%

of all blood transfusions remain unnecessary, excessive, or avoidable

40%

of major surgery patients arrive anemic, the most common indication for transfusion

<100

U.S. hospitals have formal anemia management programs today

Patient Blood Management is defined by the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management (SABM) as a patient-centered, systematic, evidence-based approach to improving patient outcomes by managing and preserving the patient’s own blood, while promoting patient safety and empowerment. That definition has guided clinical practice for years. What has been missing is the professional infrastructure to match it. The ANA’s recognition begins to provide that infrastructure.

PBM nurses are positioned to address each of these realities directly. But without the data, technology, and institutional support to act at scale, even highly skilled PBM professionals can only move so far.

The Infrastructure Gap Most Health Systems Have Not Closed

Across the United States, fewer than 100 hospitals have formal anemia management programs, according to industry estimates. Most health systems that have formed PBM committees still rely on manual care coordination, fragmented internal data, and reactive transfusion monitoring – reviewing what happened rather than preventing what is about to.

The barriers are predictable. Clinicians are stretched thin. Data lives in disconnected systems. Building a sustainable program infrastructure takes time and expertise that most organizations cannot spare. Many committees do the minimum: monitoring blood component spend and utilization while the most significant drivers of transfusion overuse go unaddressed.

How hc1 Clinical IQ Supports the PBM Nursing Specialty

hc1 Clinical IQ empowers clinical and quality leaders to reduce practice variation and close care gaps at scale. The platform surfaces risk, automates workflows, and connects care teams with recognized PBM clinical experts. Two capabilities are directly relevant to PBM nursing programs.

hc1 Patient Blood Management

A Comprehensive Program Approach

hc1’s comprehensive PBM solution combines benchmarking and analytics with hands-on support from internationally recognized clinical experts. hc1 has implemented PBM programs at more than 450 hospitals, consistently reducing blood use by 20+%.

The approach is built on five fundamentals:

  • Establishing a clinically driven, multidisciplinary PBM program infrastructure
  • Developing and distributing meaningful PBM reports at the hospital, specialty, and provider level
  • Implementing evidence-based transfusion guidelines with clinical decision support
  • Rolling out ongoing, customized clinical education and awareness campaigns
  • Implementing strategies to improve anemia recognition, management, and blood loss minimization

These fundamentals are not theoretical. They are the operational backbone of programs already running – and already producing results – across hundreds of health systems.

Automated Anemia Management

hc1’s patented, EHR-integrated MyBloodHealth platform addresses one of the most persistent gaps in perioperative care: identifying and treating anemic patients before they reach the operating room.

MyBloodHealth runs continuously through EHR integration, automatically flagging surgical and obstetric patients with evidence of anemia, triaging by urgency, and generating individualized care plans for provider review. This automated approach allows providers to treat four times more patients than manual processes allow.

Through 2024, 194,520 patients at 70 U.S. hospitals were automatically enrolled in MyBloodHealth-powered programs (hc1 internal data, 2024). Among treated anemic patients, outcomes included an 83% reduction in transfusion rates and a 91% reduction in readmission rates.

Together, these capabilities support 75% of the PBM accreditation measures set by The Joint Commission and AABB – a direct alignment with the professional standards the ANA has now formalized.

Documented Outcomes Across 350+ Health Systems

hc1 Clinical IQ’s PBM outcomes are documented performance, not projections.

  • $120 million-plus in blood acquisition cost savings through the Comprehensive PBM solution
  • 260% ROI over three years
  • 8,000-plus blood transfusion complications avoided
  • 1,900-plus transfusion-associated deaths prevented

The Clinical IQ Impact

One Pennsylvania health system implemented hc1’s comprehensive PBM program in early 2022. Within nine months, the system enrolled 2,241 patients, identified 651 anemic patients, and achieved $330,000 in blood acquisition cost savings – an 18% cost reduction. Monthly margin improvement grew from an initial projection of $10,000 to $28,000 and continued climbing.

What This Means for Health System Strategy

The ANA’s recognition creates a defined professional identity for PBM nurses and raises the bar for the health systems that employ them. For executives, the strategic implications are concrete.

Recruitment and retention of PBM-specialized nursing talent will become a competitive differentiator.
Accreditation programs aligned with PBM standards will carry growing weight in quality metrics and payer conversations.
Health systems without robust PBM infrastructure will face increasing exposure to avoidable costs, complications, and care variation.

hc1 Clinical IQ is designed to support that infrastructure directly. The platform gives PBM nurses the intelligence they need to work at the full scope of their specialty, and gives health system leaders the measurable outcomes that accreditation and performance standards require.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does ANA recognition of PBM nursing mean for health systems?+

The ANA’s June 2026 recognition formally defines the scope of practice, competency standards, and career pathway for PBM nurses. For health systems, it creates a clearer framework for credentialing PBM nursing roles and a stronger mandate to build the program infrastructure that specialty practice requires.

How many U.S. hospitals have a formal PBM program?+

Industry estimates put the number at fewer than 100 hospitals with formal anemia management programs. Most health systems that have formed PBM committees still rely on manual processes and reactive monitoring rather than proactive, data-driven management.

What is the ROI of a Patient Blood Management program?+

hc1 Clinical IQ’s documented outcomes include 260% ROI over three years, $120 million-plus in blood acquisition cost savings, and $250 million-plus in total savings across 300 health systems. Individual health system results vary based on baseline utilization, program scope, and implementation depth.

What is the difference between a PBM program and a transfusion committee?+

A transfusion committee typically reviews blood component spend and utilization retrospectively. A full PBM program adds proactive anemia screening, evidence-based transfusion guidelines with clinical decision support, provider-level reporting, and structured education – addressing the root causes of transfusion overuse rather than monitoring after the fact.

How does hc1 Clinical IQ support PBM accreditation?+

hc1 Clinical IQ’s capabilities support 75% of the PBM accreditation measures set by The Joint Commission and AABB. This includes benchmarking, clinical decision support, and automated anemia management through the MyBloodHealth platform.

Ready to assess where your cPBM program stands?

hc1 Clinical IQ has helped hundreds of health systems build, scale, and sustain PBM programs with documented clinical and financial results. No obligation. Just a clear picture of where your program stands and what is possible.

Request Your Free Assessment

For more on the PBM nursing specialty and the broader movement advancing patient blood safety, visit SABM (sabm.org) and World Anemia Awareness (worldanemiaawareness.com).

By Bradley Bostic, Founder and CEO
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Executive Summary

Healthcare does not have a data problem.

It has a problem turning data into action.

Across health systems and laboratories, leaders face growing pressure to improve outcomes, streamline operations, control costs, and accelerate growth within an increasingly complex environment. The data is there. The challenge lies in unlocking it.

Too often, critical insights remain buried in disconnected systems, siloed teams, and static reports that tell you what happened after the moment to act has already passed.

That is the challenge hc1 IQ™ was built to address. Today, I am thrilled to announce the launch of the new hc1 IQ™ website. This is more than a digital refresh. It marks a bold reimagining of how hc1 empowers healthcare organizations to transform data into intelligence, driving real-world impact where it matters most.

The Vision Behind hc1 IQ™

For years, healthcare has invested heavily in systems designed to capture, store, and move information. That investment was necessary. But collecting data is not the same as using it well.

What healthcare leaders need is not another layer of reporting. They need a way to identify what matters, what requires action, and where action can have the greatest impact.

That is the vision behind hc1 IQ™.

“hc1 IQ™ harnesses artificial intelligence to unify diagnostic, operational, and market data to surface meaningful patterns, spotlighting critical areas for intervention and empowering leaders to make confident, data-driven decisions.”

At its core, hc1 IQ™ is about one thing: helping healthcare leaders act with more precision.

Key Features Driving Measurable Outcomes

The value of intelligence is not in what it shows. It’s in what it enables an organization to do.

That’s why the new hc1 IQ™ website is purpose-built around the outcomes healthcare leaders care about most: stronger clinical performance, optimized operations, smarter supply management and focused, sustainable growth. These are not isolated goals. They are deeply interconnected challenges that every health system and laboratory must address to excel.

Clinical IQ™

Unmatched Clinical Intelligence

Better care depends on better signals.

Organizations cannot close care gaps, improve follow-up, or support earlier intervention if meaningful patterns remain hidden in the noise. Leaders need a clearer view of what the data is saying and where action is needed.

Clinical IQ™ provides relevant insights from diagnostic and clinical data so organizations can make more informed decisions and support more proactive care. This is not about overwhelming clinicians with more information. It is about giving the right teams clearer intelligence so they can act sooner and with greater confidence.

Ops IQ™

Operational Excellence

Operations improve when leaders can see where performance is slipping.

Bottlenecks, workflow delays, underused capacity, and inconsistent turnaround times do not just create inefficiency. They create drag across the system. They slow teams down, strain resources, and make it harder to deliver at the level healthcare demands.

Ops IQ™ gives leaders visibility into where operations are breaking down and where improvement will matter most. With a better view of workflow, utilization, and performance, organizations can make smarter operational decisions, reduce friction, and improve execution.

In healthcare, operational discipline is not a back-office issue. It is a performance issue.

Source IQ™

Smarter Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management is now mission-critical. Managing it through static contracts and backward-looking reports is no longer enough. Leaders need real-time visibility into how supplies are being used, how contracts are performing, and where demand is shifting so they can control spending, reduce waste, and avoid costly disruptions.

With Source IQ™, organizations can combine market intelligence with utilization analytics to make smarter supply decisions. That creates better visibility into contract performance, stronger forecasting, and a more disciplined approach to inventory and cost. When margins are tight, that level of supply intelligence is essential.

Signal IQ™

Accelerated Market Growth

Growth requires more than effort. It requires clarity on where opportunity is growing and where risk is emerging.

Healthcare organizations need a sharper view of referral patterns, client behavior, and market movement so they can focus on retention and expansion with greater precision. Without that visibility, outreach becomes too broad, strategy too reactive, and growth becomes harder to sustain.

Signal IQ™ brings together market signals, referral analytics and client trends to show where relationships need attention, where expansion is most likely and where churn risk may be developing. That allows commercial teams to prioritize more effectively and pursue growth with greater discipline. In a competitive market, that kind of intelligence is a real advantage.

A New Standard for Healthcare Intelligence

The launch of the hc1 IQ™ website is more than a digital milestone. It sets a new benchmark for what healthcare organizations should expect from their technology partners. In a market defined by tight margins, operational complexity, and rising expectations, data alone is not enough. hc1 IQ™ is designed to solve this challenge, delivering actionable intelligence that drives meaningful change.

“We designed hc1 IQ™ to give healthcare leaders a more intelligent and connected way to navigate clinical, operational, supply, and commercial challenges.”

The new website reflects that clearly, with a sharper view of the platform, the use cases it supports, the outcomes it is built to drive, and the way it integrates into existing healthcare infrastructure.

Visit hc1 IQ™ and see how hc1 is turning data into action. Review the use cases. Look at the outcomes. Consider what a stronger intelligence layer can mean for clinical performance, operations, supply management, and growth.

That is what hc1 IQ™ is built for.

Bradley Bostic is the Founder and CEO of hc1. Having founded hc1 in 2011 with a vision to move healthcare toward proactive, predictive, and personalized care through the power of data.

By Julie Gniffke, SVP of Technology Engineering
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Executive Summary

The conversation around AI in healthcare has shifted. It’s no longer about potential—it’s about proof. In a recent episode of Boombostic Health in the Wild recorded live at ViVE, former US CTO Aneesh Chopra made that case compellingly: the data infrastructure is in place, policy alignment is emerging, and AI agents are already delivering measurable results.


Listen to the full episode here.

For lab leaders, that signal matters. The same forces reshaping how health systems manage chronic disease and care navigation are converging on laboratory operations. The window to act is now.

Data as the Foundation

The healthcare industry spent over a decade building the infrastructure to make data accessible. From the release of Medicare datasets under the Obama administration to TEFCA enabling real-time record exchange today, open data has become, as Chopra described it, “the baseline good.”

“Access alone doesn’t create value. What transforms data into outcomes is intelligence – the ability to interpret it, act on it, and close the gaps it reveals.”

This is where platforms like hc1 ClinicalIQ™ are redefining what lab data can do. Rather than treating lab results as isolated outputs, hc1 ClinicalIQ™ applies AI-driven analytics to unify clinical intelligence, utilization patterns, and operational performance into a single, actionable view. The result: labs move from reactive reporting to proactive decision-making.

Policy Is Setting the Stage

Chopra described a pivotal shift underway at CMS – moving away from complex actuarial models toward fixed outcomes-based payments tied to four chronic conditions: metabolic disease, early-stage and late-stage low back pain, and mental health. The message to providers is clear: inputs matter less than outcomes, and the infrastructure to reward performance is being built right now.

Why This Matters for Lab

Diagnostic accuracy, appropriate test utilization, and timely care gap closure aren’t just operational metrics – they are direct contributors to the outcome scores that will determine payment in a value-based world.

Labs that can demonstrate how their testing protocols drive better downstream outcomes will have a strategic advantage. Those still operating in data silos, managing supply contracts manually, or relying on outdated outreach models will struggle to make that case.

Platform Infrastructure: From Insight to Action

One of the most compelling examples Chopra shared was an academic medical center that used AI voice agents to proactively engage patients on blood pressure management. Within 90 days, the system moved from two-star to four-star performance on Medicare Advantage STAR measures – generating millions in quality bonuses.

90
Days to move from 2-star to 4-star Medicare Advantage STAR performance
2 → 4
STAR rating improvement through intelligent patient outreach
Millions +
Quality bonuses generated from the STAR performance improvement

Key Finding:

The mechanism was not complicated. It was consistent, intelligent outreach to a population that wasn’t being reached any other way.

The same principle applies to lab outreach and care gap management. hc1 ClinicalIQ™ delivers this capability at scale – analyzing referral patterns, identifying at-risk patients, and equipping outreach teams with the intelligence to act before gaps widen. This is not theoretical. It is the kind of platform infrastructure that supports what Chopra calls the “abundance future”: high-quality, personalized care for every patient, not just the highest-risk tier.

What Lab Leaders Should Be Doing Now

The alignment of data access, policy reform, and AI capability creates a rare window. Here is how lab leaders can position their operations to capture it:

Four Steps to Take Today

01
 Audit your data infrastructure.

Are your lab results integrated with clinical and operational data, or still siloed? AI-driven analytics require unified inputs to generate reliable insights.

02
 Align lab performance with outcomes metrics.

Understand which quality measures – STAR ratings, HEDIS scores, chronic disease management benchmarks – your lab data can directly influence.

03
 Invest in AI-powered outreach.

Proactive, intelligent engagement with providers and patients is becoming a competitive differentiator. Manual outreach models cannot scale to meet the demand.

04
 Evaluate your platform.

Fragmented point solutions create blind spots. A unified intelligence platform – one that connects clinical intelligence, supply chain optimization, and market growth – is the architecture for what comes next.

The Moment Has Arrived

Chopra closed the conversation with a note of hard-won optimism: “I’ve been a dreamer of this moment… now I feel like it’s coming.” For those working at the intersection of diagnostics and care delivery, that moment demands a response.

The data infrastructure exists. The policy incentives are being restructured. The AI tools to translate both into action are here.

hc1 ClinicalIQ™ is built for exactly this convergence—helping lab leaders optimize operations, close care gaps, and drive growth in an outcomes-driven healthcare system. The question isn’t whether AI will reshape laboratory medicine. It’s whether your lab will lead that transformation or follow it.

Julie Gniffke is SVP, Technology Engineering at hc1. She leads all software product development, maintenance, and internal operations.

Contact: jgniffke@hc1.com

By Jason Carney, SVP Clinical Strategy
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Executive Summary

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAMS), beginning in 2026, forces hospitals to assume significant risk for the 30-day post-discharge continuum of care. Success under this mandatory bundled payment initiative hinges on two levers: rigorous cost containment and superior quality outcomes. This paper asserts that traditional episodic cost management is insufficient. The most potent, yet often overlooked, strategy is the precision-driven, pre-surgical optimization of patient blood health. By deploying tools like MyBloodHealth, hospitals can systematically mitigate the largest single drivers of episodic cost—complications and readmissions—while simultaneously boosting the patient engagement metrics that drive quality adjustments.

I. The New Mandate: Navigating Risk in the CMS TEAMS Era

The CMS TEAMS model represents a definitive shift in reimbursement philosophy, bundling payments for common surgical procedures (such as Lower Extremity Joint Replacement) to include all related costs up to 30 days post-discharge.

Hospitals are no longer paid for volume; they are financially accountable for managing total episode spending against a regional target price. For every episode, a hospital must proactively manage high-cost variables, including:

Readmissions

Each prevented readmission saves an average of $10,000–$14,000

Post-Acute Care

Controlling discharge destination—prioritizing HHA over high-cost SNF stays

Complications

Eliminating unnecessary utilization, such as blood transfusions

The ultimate financial outcome—whether a hospital receives a bonus or incurs a repayment penalty—is determined by the cost difference, which is then adjusted by a Quality Score based on metrics like patient-reported outcomes (PROMs) and HCAHPS scores.

II. Anemia: The Hidden Variable Driving Episode Overspend

When analyzing episode costs, one clinical factor stands out as disproportionately driving high utilization and negative outcomes: pre-existing anemia.

Data clearly demonstrates the financial burden of this clinical condition:

Patient Cohort Average Total Payments ($) Per Patient
Unadjusted Costs for Anemic Patients $14,535
Unadjusted Costs for Non-anemic Patients $9,451

Key Finding:

50%+ Higher average annualized cost for anemic patients compared to non-anemic patients for surgical episodes.

This cost is driven by complications, longer inpatient stays, and reliance on expensive resources like transfusions and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) stays.

The traditional bundled payment approach focuses on managing costs after the surgery has occurred (optimizing PAC). The strategic advantage under TEAMS is to manage the risk before the episode even begins. By implementing evidence-based protocols for anemia and other blood health risks in the surgical readiness phase, hospitals can:

  1. Reduce Complications: Correcting anemia pre-surgery significantly reduces the likelihood of complications and the need for costly blood transfusions during the procedure.
  2. Ensure a Successful Discharge: Healthier patients are more likely to qualify for and succeed with safe discharge to home health, avoiding the $6,500–$10,000 average cost of an unnecessary Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) stay.

III. MyBloodHealth as the Engine for TEAMS Success

MyBloodHealth (MBH) directly translates proactive blood health optimization into tangible TEAMS performance benefits, functioning as a precision engine across the clinical and financial spectrum.

1. Driving Financial Savings Through Data Tracking

The platform facilitates the tracking of key blood health metrics over time. For hospitals, this data is invaluable for:

  • Risk Stratification: Identifying high-risk patients (e.g., those with undiagnosed or uncontrolled anemia) who require intensive prehabilitation.
  • Personalized Interventions: Enabling healthcare providers to develop personalized care plans that target blood health deficiencies, thereby reducing risk exposure within the 30-day episode window.
  • Eliminating Avoidable Costs: By ensuring patients enter the episode optimized, MBH supports the goal of eliminating unnecessary, high-cost resources—like readmissions or extended PAC stays—that push episode spending above the regional target.

2. Enhancing Quality Performance via Patient Engagement

The TEAM model integrates quality metrics, and low scores can completely negate cost savings.

Key Finding:

A Quality Adjustment of just -2% can turn a $100,000 cost savings bonus into a $28,000 repayment obligation.

MyBloodHealth directly addresses the patient-facing metrics (HCAHPS, PROMs) by:

  • Empowerment and Education: Giving patients access to their blood health data and providing educational resources. Engaged, informed patients are more adherent to treatment plans and better prepared for recovery, which naturally leads to higher patient satisfaction scores.
  • Improved Care Coordination: The platform facilitates continuous communication between the patient and the care team during the critical 30-day post-discharge period, ensuring necessary follow-up care and preventing unnecessary Emergency Department (ED) visits.

Conclusion: From Reactive Cost Control to Proactive Risk Management

CMS TEAMS is not just a payment challenge; it is a clinical strategy challenge. Hospitals that continue to focus solely on downstream cost control will perpetually lag.

The path to receiving the maximum reconciliation bonus under TEAMS lies in adopting an upstream, precision-based approach. MyBloodHealth transforms a clinical data point into a financial lever, ensuring patients are optimized, complications are minimized, and engagement is maximized.

In the mandatory bundled payment world, an effective blood health optimization platform is no longer a clinical nice-to-have; it is a strategic and financial necessity.

Jason Carney is SVP, Clinical Strategy at hc1. He is responsible for product development, innovation, and go-to-market strategy for hc1’s Clinical solution portfolio. Jason is the co-developer, co-author, and patent holder for the MyBloodHealth® platform.

Contact: jcarney@hc1.com

By Tiffany Hall, RN
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October 29, 2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched the Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) Model, a decade-long initiative designed to improve maternal health outcomes for women enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. This model represents a significant federal investment aimed at addressing disproportionately high rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes in the U.S. As subject matter experts in health data and technology, we see this as a pivotal moment for state Medicaid agencies and their healthcare partners.

The TMaH model is structured around three core pillars: improving access to care, enhancing quality and safety, and delivering whole-person care. This framework provides a strategic roadmap for addressing the systemic gaps in maternal healthcare. For OB/GYN practices and health systems, understanding these pillars is crucial for aligning with this national priority and driving meaningful change.

Pillar 1: Access to Care, Infrastructure, and Workforce Capacity

The TMaH model directly confronts a primary barrier to better maternal health: limited access to a full range of providers and services. Many expectant mothers, particularly those in underserved areas, lack access to midwives, doulas, and perinatal Community Health Workers (CHWs). The model aims to change this by supporting states in building the necessary infrastructure and workforce to integrate these vital resources.

Key Objectives:

  • Increase Access: Promote the use of birth centers and midwives to offer more choices for low-risk pregnancies.
  • Expand Community Services: Integrate perinatal CHWs and doulas, who provide critical non-clinical support that can reduce postpartum anxiety and depression.
  • Modernize Data Infrastructure: Enhance data collection and information sharing between providers and community-based organizations through improved electronic health records (EHRs) and health information exchanges (HIEs).

Our Subject Matter Expert Perspective:

The U.S. faces the highest maternal mortality rate among high-income nations, with access disparities especially affecting marginalized communities enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP. These gaps stem from challenges in accessing high-quality, consistent care. The TMaH model aims to address infrastructure and workforce limitations, such as the availability of midwives, doulas, and community health workers (CHWs). Digital solutions, like HerCare’s maternal health software, can further enhance these efforts by streamlining the identification of at-risk pregnancies and improving care coordination across multiple providers. By enabling seamless communication among midwives, CHWs, and doulas, technology ensures that women receive comprehensive care regardless of their socioeconomic status or geographic location.

Pillar 2: Quality Improvement and Safety

The second pillar focuses on standardizing and elevating the quality of care provided in clinical settings. The TMaH model promotes the adoption of “patient safety bundles”—evidence-informed protocols designed to reduce preventable complications and make childbirth safer. This initiative also encourages hospitals to achieve the CMS “Birthing-Friendly” designation, a mark of quality and commitment to maternal health.

Key Objectives:

  • Implement Safety Protocols: Drive the adoption of patient safety bundles to reduce complications related to hypertension, cardiac conditions, and substance use disorders.
  • Promote Birthing-Friendly Hospitals: Encourage facilities to meet federal quality standards focused specifically on maternal health.
  • Foster Shared Decision-Making: Introduce processes that empower mothers to be active participants in their care plans and birth experience.

Our Subject Matter Expert Perspective:

Maternal health care involves numerous touchpoints and providers, often resulting in fragmented communication and care. The TMaH model’s emphasis on quality improvement relies on effective coordination among obstetricians, pediatricians, midwives, and CHWs. A software solution such as HerCare can bridge communication gaps, providing a central hub for patient information and enabling all stakeholders to collaborate efficiently. Real-time data sharing, alerts, and collaborative features ensure each provider remains attuned to the evolving needs of mothers, thereby delivering continuous, coordinated, and high-quality care throughout the pregnancy and postpartum experience.

Pillar 3: Whole-Person Care Delivery

The final pillar of the TMaH model calls for a fundamental shift away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to a model of whole-person care. This requires care plans that are customized to each mother’s unique physical, mental, and social needs. It emphasizes routine screening for health-related social needs (HRSNs), perinatal depression, and anxiety, with reliable referral pathways to community resources.

Key Objectives:

  • Personalize Care Plans: Institute evidence-based risk assessments to develop care plans that align with individual patient needs and preferences.
  • Integrate Mental and Behavioral Health: Routinely screen for and follow up on perinatal depression, anxiety, and substance use.
  • Address Social Determinants of Health: Screen for HRSNs like housing, transportation, and food insecurity, and establish referral pathways to address them.
  • Advance Health Equity: Require states to develop and implement Health Equity Plans and provide cultural competency training for providers.

Our Subject Matter Expert Perspective:

Whole-person care, one of the model’s cornerstones, places individualized birth plans and holistic care at the forefront. HerCare’s software helps actualize this vision by offering tailored risk assessments based on comprehensive clinical and behavioral health data. By continuously tracking metrics such as blood pressure, glucose, hemoglobin, ferritin, and mental health screenings, the platform empowers clinicians to intervene early and personalize care plans. This proactive approach reduces unnecessary interventions, prevents complications, and promotes positive birth experiences for mothers and their newborns.

The Path Forward: Long-Term Sustainability and Broader Impact

The TMaH Model creates a robust foundation for transforming maternal care, but challenges such as limited state participation remain. Technology plays a pivotal role in driving long-term sustainability and reducing costs by tracking outcomes, reducing inefficiencies, and optimizing care delivery. By supporting remote monitoring and enabling scalable, integrated solutions across states, platforms like HerCare can help expand the benefits of TMaH—including in states not selected for the federal model.

Furthermore, by reducing resource waste and improving patient risk identification, such solutions promote a more sustainable maternal health infrastructure. This ensures lower overall healthcare costs and improved outcomes, extending high-quality maternal care beyond the limitations of the current model.

Tiffany Hall is a nationally recognized leader in Patient Blood Management (PBM), bringing over 35 years of clinical nursing experience and deep expertise in anemia management and transfusion safety. As Clinical Technology Director and Product Owner for MyBloodHealth (MBH) and HERCARE, Tiffany leads the design and delivery of technology solutions that advance blood health and maternal care outcomes. Tiffany began her PBM career at Eastern Maine Medical Center and went on to serve as Clinical Director of PBM and Transfusion Safety Officer for a multi-hospital system in Florida. Since joining hc1 Insights, Inc. (formerly Accumen) in 2018, she has continued to shape innovative, system-wide PBM strategies grounded in clinical excellence and data-driven insights.

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