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September 22, 2026

Takeaways from the most recent news in the technology and policies shaping healthcare.

Finance

Chris Allen Named CFO of $6B UChicago Medicine

By Healthcare Technology News ·

Chris Allen stepped into the role of executive vice president and CFO at UChicago Medicine on Sept. 1, 2025, according to Becker's Hospital Review. The appointment marks a return to familiar ground: Allen began his career at the University of Chicago as a budget analyst in the Basic Science Division in the mid-1990s before moving on to build his finance career elsewhere.

Allen described the homecoming as surreal, noting that the executive suite he now occupies sits in a place he once walked as a junior analyst decades ago. He now oversees finance for an academic health system with roughly $6 billion in operations.

The hire lands as large academic medical centers navigate thin margins, rising labor and supply costs, and heavy capital demands. Systems of this scale increasingly seek CFOs who combine deep institutional knowledge with broad operating experience to steer strategy, investment, and financial discipline through an uncertain period for hospital finances.

Sources

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The Hidden Costs Buried in Healthcare Payment Operations

Healthcare payment costs are split across four budgets, hiding the true expense of manual and paper-based processes from finance leaders.

Why it matters: Payment operations quietly drain money that organizations cannot see because the costs are fragmented across departments.

Finance

Alkermes Orexin Agonist Shows Early Promise in ADHD

Alkermes reported that its orexin agonist showed early potential to treat ADHD, the first promise the drug class has shown for the condition.

Why it matters: A non-stimulant, novel-mechanism ADHD therapy could reshape a market long dominated by stimulants with abuse and shortage risks.

Finance

FDA Approves First Sanfilippo Gene Therapy From Ultragenyx

The FDA approved Ultragenyx's Fayuvi as the first therapy targeting the underlying cause of Sanfilippo syndrome type A.

Why it matters: It gives children with an ultra-rare, fatal neurological disorder their first approved treatment aimed at the disease's root cause.