Congress passed a new stopgap funding law on November 12, 2025, that extends Medicare's virtual care policies through January 30, 2026. This crucial measure restores pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities that had expired, ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries can again receive virtual care without geographic limitations and from an expanded list of eligible providers.

The law also restores telehealth coverage retroactively to October 1, 2025, after a temporary lapse caused by the shutdown. This development provides critical continuity for our Medicare patients who rely on telehealth services and gives our teams additional flexibility in how we deliver care to this population.

Our clinical and administrative teams should continue to leverage these telehealth flexibilities to ensure access for our Medicare beneficiaries, particularly those facing transportation barriers or living in rural areas. We will continue monitoring federal developments and keep you informed of any further policy changes as they emerge.

What an exciting way to kick off 2026! As we step boldly into this fresh chapter, I am thrilled to share that the time has finally arrived—our dedicated OCHIN project team will be onsite at Piedmont next week, January 12–15, for the next major phase of Project Catalyst. This milestone marks tremendous progress and brings us even closer to delivering the enhanced systems and workflows that will empower us to provide even better care to our patients and communities.

This represents a powerful step forward, filled with collaboration, connection, and forward momentum. Our Core Team, together with the newly formed Health Systems Applications team, will be fully engaged in working sessions, site tours, and key decision-making to keep Project Catalyst advancing strongly and on track. The teams will be visiting our Moncure and Carrboro sites on Monday, and our Pittsboro PACE site on Wednesday and Thursday. Stay tuned for the next exciting updates as Project Catalyst continues to unfold and transform the way we deliver exceptional care together!

Last week, we shared exciting news about the Epic Roles being filled. Today, we're excited to introduce the Health Systems Applications Team and the people behind the work. This team of five is made up entirely of internal Piedmont employees who stepped into these roles to keep growing and serving from the inside out. They are supported by key team partners across the organization, working closely together to ensure strong collaboration throughout this implementation.

What sets this team apart is perspective. Every team member has sat in the seats many of you sit in today. They understand clinic flow, patient access, billing, dental, PACE, etc. and the real day to day challenges because they have lived them. That experience now shapes how our systems are built, supported, and optimized.

This team will support the Epic EHR transition, support the new Pioneer pharmacy system, serve as experts for our current systems during transition, and focus on long term optimization that truly supports patient care and staff workflows. This team reflects Piedmont's continued commitment to investing in our people, strengthening how we work together, and ensuring our systems truly support the care we provide every day.