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Some providers are finding themselves at risk of a medical board investigation—or worse—after working with telehealth companies.

Welcome back! To get a measles vaccine, or to not get a measles vaccine, that is the question—at least at HHS these days. While Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long been open about his vaccine skepticism, he affirmed last week that the federal agency officially recommends children get the measles shot. So there you have it! For now, at least.

In today’s edition:

Sussing out telemedicine companies

🫨 Concern over loss of skills or eroded trust

What’s next for the NIH?

—Caroline Catherman, Cassie McGrath

TELEHEALTH

Doctor speaking to patient from a digital health cross

Francis Scialabba

Telemedicine companies and white label medical groups are tempting doctors with six-figure remote prescribing gigs.

But as with any industry, there are some legit businesses and some sketchy ones.

On March 20, Alabama-based doctor Tommie Robinson was sentenced to over a year in prison for signing off on prewritten medical orders for durable medical equipment and genetic testing for telemedicine companies. The orders were prepopulated from telemarketing calls with patients who he had “no provider–patient relationship” with, per a Department of Justice (DOJ) release.

That’s an extreme example, of course. Many telehealth providers are simply expanding access to necessary services. But that instance shows the importance of following the law to avoid criminal prosecution or a state medical board investigation.

Legal experts told Healthcare Brew that physicians need to make sure both they and their employer are doing things by the book to protect themselves and their patients.

Here’s what experts had to say.—CC

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AI

Doctor holding stethoscope behind her back

Unsplash

While AI is designed to build new efficiencies into the complicated world of healthcare, the tools can also pose some risks.

In Morning Brew Inc.’s survey, 38% reported they were worried about a loss of the “human touch.” That’s in addition to nearly half who reported concerns about cybersecurity and nearly one-third worried about patient privacy.

“We’re not prepared as individuals for the skill set that we need in order to interoperate effectively with machines,” Transcend’s Cardwell told us.

The skills that 127 industry professionals are most afraid of losing are diagnostic reasoning and critical thinking (61%), communication and 1:1 time with patients (50%), empathy and bedside manner (46%), and clinical intuition (46%). Ultimately, Cardwell says most patients still want a human for certain aspects of medical care.

Find more analysis from Chapter 3 of our report here.—CM

RESEARCH

Headshot of former NIH employee Walter Koroshetz

Walter Koroshetz

Each week, we schedule our rounds with Healthcare Brew readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one of several Department of Health and Human Services agencies that has lost thousands of employees over the last year, and it doesn’t seem like the carousel will stop anytime soon.

Walter Koroshetz is among many NIH leaders who left the agency. He was ousted from his role as director of the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in late 2025 and left the position in January.

He now sits on the board of directors and acts as a senior advisor to the Invisible Wounds Foundation, a Chicago-based nonprofit that focuses on accelerating research, diagnosis, and treatment for military brain injuries, and serves as a senior advisor to private philanthropic group the Dana Foundation.

As NIH researchers continue to lose funding and leaders leave, Koroshetz talked to Healthcare Brew about parting ways with the federal government, his hopes, and his fears for the agency he used to be part of.

See the full conversation here.—CC

Together With Thermo Fisher Scientific

VITAL SIGNS

A laptop tracking vital signs is placed on rolling medical equipment.

Francis Scialabba

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: $60,090. That’s the average cost of nurse turnover for just one nurse in 2025. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

Quote: “I can’t turn up prescriptions for my son back when he was young, years ago. They’re not available anymore.”—Ellen Isaacs, a Michigan resident and mother whose son died from an opioid overdose, on how many victims cannot get money from the Purdue settlement (ProPublica)

Read: This mom sought a “free birth” without any medical assistance. But it led to dangerous conditions for her and her baby. (the New York Times)

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