AI Growth, Fee-Based Practice Changes, Compliance Concerns and More

In an article for Part B News, Woods Rogers Principal and healthcare attorney Liz Heddleston weighs in on the most significant trends emerging shaping the medical practice industry heading into 2026. Liz highlights two developments poised to have an outsized impact on providers: the growing use of artificial intelligence in fraud detection and heightened enforcement of federal compliance requirements related to health IT, pharmaceuticals, and durable medical equipment (DME).

“Federal enforcement agencies are expanding their use of AI tools to identify potential fraud through claims analysis, referral patterns and prescribing data,” Liz told Part B News. “This may allow regulators to become faster and more efficient at identifying health care fraud.”

Liz also points to information-blocking enforcement as a key area of regulatory focus, noting that the U.S Department of Health and Human Services has announced a renewed crackdown on noncompliance and additional resources devoted to enforcement. “Regulators are likely to focus on the most serious and clear-cut cases, such as those causing patient harm or financial loss.”

Subscribers to Part B News can access the full article here.