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October 25, 2026

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

Telehealth

Vida Health Taps Instacart to Fund Healthy Groceries

Vida Health has teamed up with Instacart to give its members grocery stipends for nutritious foods, the companies announced. The partnership builds nutrition support directly into Vida's cardiometabolic care programs, which target conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, according to MedCity News.

In practice, members can use the funds to order healthy groceries through Instacart and have them delivered, lowering the cost and friction that often keep people from eating well. The move pairs digital coaching and clinical care with the food itself, an approach increasingly known as food as medicine.

The deal fits a wider industry trend. Instacart has been expanding its Instacart Health business through tie-ups with payers, providers, and digital health firms, while employers and insurers look for ways to address social drivers of chronic disease. For Vida, adding tangible food benefits is a bet that improving diet at home will drive better outcomes and lower long-term costs for the chronic conditions it manages.

More in Telehealth

Telehealth

Health Systems Exit Hospital-at-Home Despite Medicare Extension

Three health systems are ending hospital-at-home programs in 2026 despite Congress extending Medicare's Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative through 2030.

Why it matters: Federal policy certainty through 2030 is not enough to keep some hospitals in the hospital-at-home model, exposing the economics and operational strain behind the care-at-home push.

Telehealth

Remote Monitoring Targets US Maternal Care Gap in Rural Areas

Health systems are using remote patient monitoring and care management to extend prenatal and postpartum care into rural America, targeting preventable maternal deaths that often occur at home.

Why it matters: Most US maternal deaths are preventable and happen after patients go home, making remote monitoring a practical tool to reach rural mothers between visits.

Telehealth

10 Health Systems Now Use AI Triage for 24/7 Virtual Care

UVA Health joins at least nine other U.S. health systems offering 24/7 virtual care that uses AI to triage patients before connecting them with a clinician.

Why it matters: AI triage is shifting from experiment to standard infrastructure for how health systems run their digital front door.