Here are five recent news updates on health IT companies.
1. Eric Schmidt, PhD, will step down from his role as executive chairman of Google's parent company, Alphabet, in January.
2. Piedmont Healthcare and Shepherd Center, both based in Atlanta, established a hospital-to-hospital EHR hosting agreement on the Epic platform — a first in Georgia.
3. Roche, a pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company, entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire the precision medicine company Ignyta for $27 per share in an all-cash transaction.
4. Leaf Healthcare, a provider of a wearable patient monitoring system, established a clinical advisory board.
5. Theranos' outlook for 2018 improved after securing a $100 million loan from Fortress Investment Group, which will help the troubled blood-testing company dodge bankruptcy.