Here are 14 recent news updates on major health IT and technology companies:
1. BestBuy credited health and fitness wearables among the technology products that attributed to the company's 11.4 percent increase in earnings during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018.
2. Olive, an artificial intelligence and robotic process automation company, plans to add 100 technology jobs within the next two years as sales of its AI-powered robot continue to rapidly increase.
3. Allscripts will integrate with ID.me, an identity software platform, to equip its EHR with multifactor authentication for providers electronically prescribing controlled substances.
4. A member of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee expressed frustration over the cost and length of the Veteran Affairs' $16 billion deal with Cerner to put the VA on the same records system as the Defense Department during a recent hearing.
5. Amazon Web Services will integrate its cloud storage software with Sprint's Internet of Things network to enhance users' routing, processing and storage of IoT data.
6. Apple is reportedly in testing stages of a sleep-tracking feature, which could be added to its Apple Watch by 2020.
7. Walmart is offering employees a 90 percent discount on telemedicine, dropping the price of a virtual visit from $40 to $4.
8. Google partnered with sister company Verily to develop a program that screens medical imaging for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema.
9. Microsoft and Philips developed an augmented reality platform for image-guided minimally invasive surgeries.
10. Around 11 popular health and fitness apps allowed Facebook to gain access to sensitive personal data.
11. General Electric sold its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher Corp. for $21.4 billion, the company announced Feb. 25.
12. Allscripts released earnings results for its 2018 fiscal year on Feb. 21, posting a 17 percent rise in revenue.
13. AT&Treleased details on its new smartwatch, OnePulse, designed with telehealth and remote patient monitoring capabilities.
14. Taha Kass-Hout, MD, former and first CIO for the FDA and a senior leader of artificial intelligence at Amazon, detailed how the tech giant is using AI for its healthcare services.