Disruptors

Corporate takeovers of primary care practices by the likes of Amazon and CVS Health are a threat to health equity, healthcare costs and clinician autonomy, researchers wrote in a recent New England Journal of Medicine commentary.

Verily, the healthcare unit of parent company Alphabet, formerly known as Google, is sunsetting some of its healthcare projects and restructuring leadership after the company announced it would layoff 15 percent of its staff, CNBC reported Jan. 11. 

Verily, the healthcare unit of parent company Alphabet, is cutting more than 200 jobs, or about 15 percent of its staff, The Wall Street Journal first reported Jan. 11.

GE HealthCare has partnered with Ordr to provide health systems with continuous network performance and security monitoring of all clinical assets.

GE HealthCare, which completed its spinoff from General Electric on Jan. 4, said fourth quarter revenue was about $4.9 billion. 

Hospital and health system digital and innovation chiefs told Becker's they're excited about the potential of GE's healthcare spinoff to advance the industry's digital transformation and said they envision plenty of partnership opportunities.

Google recently posted several job openings related to its health business. Below are five open positions as of Jan. 10:

Primary care disruptor VillageMD, which is majority owned by Walgreens Boots Alliance, has appointed Stuart Levine, MD, as its president of value-based care. 

CVS Health is in talks with Oak Street Health, which runs primary care centers for Medicare recipients, about a possible acquisition, Bloomberg reported Jan. 9. 

Virgin Pulse, the digital health arm of conglomerate Virgin Group, named former CVS Health leader Jeffrey Jacques, MD, as its chief medical officer.