NIHCM Newsletter / February 2026
The Cancer Burden in the United States
Health Care Management / Artificial Intelligence / Cost & Quality / Health Care Coverage / Maternal and Child Health
Trends in Cancer Rates
February 4, 2026 was World Cancer Day. Learn about the latest in cancer trends and strategies to support care and prevention.
- Avoidable Cancers: A report by World Health Organization scientists and published in the journal Nature Medicine estimates that 37% of all new cancer cases globally are attributable to modifiable risks such as smoking and infections, including HPV.
- Latest Trends: For the first time, according to the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Cancer Statistics, 2026 report, the five-year survival rate for all cancers combined reached 70% for people diagnosed in the US between 2015 and 2021. Colorectal cancer rates in adults ages 20 to 39 have been rising by about 2% each year since the mid-1990s. Today, about one in five people diagnosed with colorectal cancer is under age 55.
- AI & Breast Cancer: The ACS’s 2026 report shows that breast cancer is expected to account for about 32% of all new cancer diagnoses among women in 2026. A new study found that using artificial intelligence in breast cancer screening can cut later cancer diagnoses rate by 12% and improve early detection.
- Pandemic Impacts: A JAMA Oncology study found that patients diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and 2021 had worse short-term survival than those diagnosed before the pandemic, largely due to COVID-19–related care disruptions, with notable impacts for colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers.
Resources & Initiatives
- The University of California San Francisco shares information detailing who should get tested for cervical cancer and what to know about screening.
- The University of Virginia Health System, the Health Wagon, and Liger Medical have teamed up to launch the Appalachian Women’s Cervical Cancer Prevention Initiative, aiming to reduce the number of cervical cancer deaths among women in Southwest Virginia, including pairing digital technology with mobile and clinic-based infrastructure.
- Florida Blue has launched a new care navigation program to guide patients through the cancer journey. A pilot study showed a successful 40% reduction in hospital and emergency room visits for participating patients, and early results show a high patient and caregiver satisfaction score of 95%.
- Penn Medicine received a 2026 Clinical Care Innovation Grant from Independence Blue Cross to improve care coordination immediately following a breast cancer diagnosis. Within 48 hours, patients will have a virtual visit with a nurse, have their information organized, and have specialist appointments scheduled.
- Premera Blue Cross announced the expansion of its Personal Health Support program to include Premera Cancer Support. This new service, offered in partnership with Thyme Care, helps members navigate the complex and challenging journey of a cancer diagnosis.
Exclusive Interview on Ambient AI Scribes
A new JAMA Health Forum Perspective by Hannah Neprash, PhD, and Paige Nong, PhD, explores the unintended consequences of the increasing use of ambient scribes for health care billing. Learn more in this exclusive interview with Hannah Neprash.
Q: How might ambient AI scribes affect overall health care spending?
A: The big hope for ambient AI scribes is that they will reduce the massive documentation burden that clinicians currently face. If successful, ambient scribes may reduce health care spending by reducing burnout-related clinician turnover. However, the ubiquity of billing tools within today's ambient scribe offerings suggests that they may actually increase health care spending. Many ambient scribe vendors purport to enable higher-intensity billing through more complete documentation. Relatedly, some ambient scribes advertise the ability to maximize the number and severity of diagnoses recorded, yielding higher risk-adjusted payments for organizations participating in value-based payment.
Q: What other unintended consequences are you anticipating from the increased prevalence of AI scribes?
A: It will be really interesting to see what happens to clinician productivity (i.e., visit count). If scribes meaningfully reduce documentation time, clinicians may be able to add additional visits to their schedules. Given the cost of ambient scribes ($300-500 per user per month), organizations may pressure clinicians to increase visits in order to recoup costs. Another unintended consequence could be an erosion of patient trust in clinicians, as surprise bills make health care even less affordable. For example, this could happen if ambient scribes convert preventive visits to problem-based visits - which the patient may not learn about until they see a higher-than-expected bill.
Q: What should policymakers and health care leaders take away from this analysis?
A: Given how widespread ambient scribes already are, I'd say this horse is already out of the barn! Policymakers need high-quality evidence about what happens to health care spending after ambient scribe adoption - and whether any increases in spending represent high-value care, upcoding, or something in between. Payers have the tools to combat upcoding, though these can be politically unpopular among clinicians. However, the alternative may be passing spending increases through to consumers and taxpayers.
This analysis is supported by a NIHCM Research Grant.
Maternal & Child Health Updates
Updates on GLP-1 use during pregnancy, high-risk pregnancies, C-sections, and advances in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) care.
- GLP-1 Use & Pregnancy: A new study published in JAMA found that people who stopped taking weight-loss drugs before or during pregnancy experienced greater gestational weight gain and faced a higher risk of preterm delivery and gestational diabetes than those who had not been prescribed the drugs before.
- High-Risk Pregnancy: High-risk pregnancy specialists at Cedars-Sinai have launched a postpartum blood pressure monitoring program that is highly rated by patients and helps address the health risks women face during and after childbirth. Evidence on the program will be presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s Pregnancy Meeting, along with research on childbirth safety, reducing racial disparities in maternal healthcare, and other advances in maternal-fetal care.
- Home Births Increases: The Wall Street Journal reports on how planned home births have increased nationwide, rising from 1% of all births to 1.3% in 2020, and reaching 1.5% in 2023, the most recent data available.
- C-Section Rates: C-sections are the most common inpatient surgeries in the US, representing over 32% of all babies born. A recent data analysis by Business Insider found that hospital C-section rates vary by hospital, and are strongly influenced by hospital practices rather than age or overall health status. They created a first-of-its-kind data set mapping C-section rates among hospitals in 29 states and Washington, DC.
- NICU Advances: Penn Medicine is testing a beanie developed by recent graduates that aims to reduce stressful noise for babies in the NICU. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a new neonatal MRI system designed specifically for NICU use, minimizing the need to transport fragile neonates to MRI suites and lowering safety risks.
Resources & Initiatives
- Natalie Feldman, MD, a Mass General Brigham psychiatrist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, explains how the “baby blues” differ from postpartum depression and outlines treatment options that can help.
- The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health is hosting a virtual Maternal Mental Health FORUM in March, including a session on how Blue Cross Blue Shield plans and their partners are collaborating to expand access to maternal mental health and substance use disorder services.
- Heartland Forward launched the Maternal and Child Health Center for Policy and Practice in Arkansas, with plans to expand to other states. The Center aims to reduce disparities and expand access to care through technical assistance, best practices and data-driven policy, with founding support from the Blue and You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas and the Centene Foundation.
- In an effort to support the one in three Iowans who live in rural areas, including those with limited maternal care, the Wellmark Foundation invested $5.3 million over five years in the University of Iowa College of Nursing’s Simulation in Motion-Iowa program. SIM-IA is a mobile clinical education program that provides on-site simulation training for first responders and health care professionals.
- A new blog shares key takeaways from the American Hospital Association’s Better Health for Mothers and Babies webinar series, where hospitals share how they are putting the initiative’s four core principles into action.
- More than 90% of pregnancy-related deaths in Illinois are preventable, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois’ $2 million Special Beginnings grants aim to reduce maternal and infant deaths by expanding access to quality care, addressing disparities and tackling social factors that impact mothers and babies.
- In a recent podcast, New York Times investigative reporter Sarah Kliff explains how electronic fetal monitoring is driving up C-section rates.
- The Elevance Health Foundation is expanding its partnership with March of Dimes with a three-year, $879,000 investment to bolster mental health support for families with babies in NICUs at select hospitals across six states.
