Here's the latest roundup of stories about 16 health information technology companies, including Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
1. Geeta Nayyar, MD, a former chief medical information officer of AT&T, was named CMO of Greenway Health, an EHR and revenue cycle management vendor.
2. Neuralink, Elon Musk's secretive neurotech startup, raised $39.3 million toward a total offering amount of $51.3 million in a recent round of funding.
3. Microsoft is alerting users of its operating systems that a bug, which it has since released patches for, could be used as a cyber-weapon similar to the WannaCry worm.
4. Security researchers uncovered two vulnerabilities in Cisco enterprise routers that could allow hackers to remotely and fully compromise a router's network without alerting the user.
5. Livongo Health, a digital health startup aimed at supporting people with chronic conditions, has appointed Boston Children's CEO Sandra Fenwick to its board of directors.
6. Cerner is teaming up with DrFirst, a medication management solutions provider, to integrate data from numerous states' prescription drug monitoring programs into its EHR systems.
7. Athenahealth, a Watertown, Mass.-based health IT software company, appointed Bill Conway as its new chief sales officer to lead the company's strategic execution efforts and improve customers' clinical outcomes.
8. ElevateBio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech startup that has been in "stealth mode" since its 2017 founding, officially launched this week with $150 million in Series A funding.
9. Solve.Care, a blockchain-focused startup, is in the final stage of developing its Book-a-Ride card, a tool that will allow customers to schedule transportation to health-related appointments.
10. A House committee recommended upping the budget for the VA's Cerner implementation from $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion in 2020.
11. Parents whose children have been diagnosed with cancer are more likely to search Google for answers to logistical issues, such as hospital and pharmacy information, as well as best methods to support their child.
12. Instagram is expanding its methods to block anti-vaccine misinformation hashtags and search results on its platform.
13. Catasys, a healthcare consulting firm based in Los Angeles, will use its proprietary artificial intelligence platform to identify and offer solutions for the nationwide loneliness epidemic.
14. Amazon's Echo Dot Kids devices, a version of the company's Alexa smart speaker that is marketed toward children, allegedly improperly records and stores young users' conversations in the cloud.
15. MATTER, a healthcare startup incubator, and rMark Bio, which provides artificial intelligence solutions to life sciences companies, both based in Chicago, announced the launch of their joint Origin platform on May 8.
16. Although PayPal is working on blockchain and cryptocurrency projects, the company is not sold on the idea of a digital coin.
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