Twenty health information technology notes:
1. Although Microsoft is one of the most-attacked companies globally, the company allows 90 percent of its employees to log on to corporate network without a password.
2. Julie Wilson, chief people officer of Cerner, is retiring, effective June 30.
3. Health Catalyst, a data, analytics and support company, plans to raise $150 million to $200 million in its initial public offering.
4. Epic's software may slow down blind hospital workers, but it doesn't prevent them from doing their jobs, the EHR vendor said April 29 in response to a disability lawsuit.
5. Meditech is launching a new division that will offer customers various professional services aimed at enhancing its web-based EHR platform Expanse.
6. In its latest effort to gain users' trust, Facebook will allow patients who are members of "health support" groups to post questions and health-related information anonymously.
7. Companies looking to develop and grow blockchain networks can now do so using Amazon Managed Blockchain, which Amazon Web Services launched on the East Coast on April 30.
8. Epic and Cerner maintained the largest share of the EMR market for acute care hospitals in 2018.
9. The Department of Veterans Affairs and Microsoft partnered to provide VA rehabilitation centers with Xbox controllers as part of an initiative to support muscle activation and hand-eye coordination in veterans with limited mobility.
10. Amazon plans to expand its Denver-based offices and create 400 new technology jobs in fields such as software engineering and cloud computing.
11. Microsoft is partnering with Imprivata, a health IT security company, to develop an identity and access management cloud platform for healthcare customers.
12. Google's parent company Alphabet posted financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, recording a 17 percent increase in revenues year over year to $36.3 billion.
13. Welldoc, a digital health company in Baltimore, has joined forces with Durham, N.C.-based medical data management firm Validic to better enable patients' access to, engagement with and management of their personal health data.
14. Slack's IPO filing detailed its potential future HIPAA risks, indicating it sees a greater future presence in healthcare as a communication tool.
15. Three veterans of Apple's industrial design team, who collectively have more than 45 years of experience at the technology giant, have recently chosen to leave the company.
16. At-home DNA testing giant 23andMe and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research have unveiled the Fox Insight Data Exploration Network (Fox DEN), a data access and analytics platform to aid in Parkinson's disease research.
17. Google veteran and technology expert David Weekly has developed a free app, which will launch May 3, that allows patients to record visits with their physicians.
18. For the first quarter of 2019, Amazon’s net income increased to $3.6 billion compared to $1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
19. Cerner released its earnings results for the first quarter of 2019.
20. CPSI, a health information technology company, will purchase remote patient care planning and management platform Get Real Health for $11 million.
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