Stanford (Calif.) Medicine has invested millions of dollars into wearables such as the Apple Watch and Fitbit to research their effectiveness in detecting patients' vitals, Insider reported Aug. 18. 

San Francisco is requiring proof of full vaccination for many indoor venues, such as restaurants, bars and gyms, according to an Aug. 12 Insider report.

Cara Babachicos, CIO of South Shore Health in Weymouth, Mass., joined the Becker's Healthcare podcast to talk about patient experience initiatives and innovation for community health systems.

San Francisco-based digital health company Carrum Health named former Google executive Pallav Sharda as its new chief platform officer, the company said Aug. 12. 

As some businesses and workplaces move to require COVID-19 vaccination verification for service or employment, having a digital copy of your vaccination card on your phone will ensure you're covered wherever you go. 

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is looking to tie together Google Wear OS, health tracking capabilities and previous Samsung versions to reboot the Android watch landscape, according to an Aug. 11 Cnet report.

Kroger partnered with Lyft to provide discounted rides to and from COVID-19 vaccine appointments, the two companies announced Aug. 5.

UC San Francisco will house the COVID Tracking Project, a 15-month-long crowdsourced digital archive of daily COVID-19 data compiled by The Atlantic, within the university's permanent library collection, the organizations said July 28. 

Health data company Datavant and health information management company Ciox Health finalized their $7 billion merger agreement, the companies announced July 28. 

Telehealth visits skyrocketed during the pandemic. Telehealth has enormous advantages, but to improve care at scale, several challenges must be addressed. 

GoodRx, an online platform that offers coupons for discounts on prescription drugs, is teaming up with DoorDash to offer the food ordering and delivery platform's network of drivers access to its prescription savings program and telehealth services, the companies said July 8. 

Wearable health-tracking devices like Fitbit and Apple Watch may help detect early signs of COVID-19 infections, as well as provide better insights into patients' long-term recovery from the disease, according to a paper published July 7 in JAMA Network Open.  

Springfield, Ill.-based Memorial Health System is launching an assessment tool to gauge race- and income-based health disparities for hospitals, according to The State Journal-Register.

Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and IBM Research unveiled a new artificial intelligence-powered chatbot July 1 that the two organizations developed to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. 

Recuro has acquired MyLegacy, a clinical decision-making support application, which was developed by the Cleveland Clinic Genomic Medicine Institute.

Jean-Olivier Racine has left Amazon to join a health IT startup after serving in artificial intelligence and tech leadership roles for nearly 10 years. 

Providence's health tech investment portfolio Tegria on June 24 acquired KenSci, a company that provides artificial intelligence platforms and tools to healthcare providers, payers and medical device companies.

Mobile health apps are growing in popularity as a way consumers can be more attuned with their health — yet 88 percent of these apps collect and track users' data, according to a June 17 report published in the British Medical Journal.

As they continue their push into healthcare, retail and tech companies have introduced a slew of consumer-centric health products into the market. Below, six hospital executives talks about some of their favorite products and why they might recommend them to patients:

Amazon released its COVID-19 test kit, which costs $40 and is compatible with Prime delivery.