Orbita, Inc., a leading provider of voice-first software for connected home healthcare announced today a collaboration withERT to research innovative new approaches to data procurement and management for pharmaceutical and device customers seeking to streamline clinical trials. The collaboration combines the advanced capabilities of ERT’s EXPERT™ technology platform for clinical trial data collection, processing, and analysis with Orbita Voice™, a first-of-its-kind solution for creating conversational applications using intelligent voice agents such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

Researchers from Cedars-Sinai have been able to extract primary concerns patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have about their biologic medications through social media posts. Findings were published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, the official journal of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

Boston-based Steward Health Care System would become the largest for-profit hospital operator in the U.S. if it wins regulatory approval for a $2 billion merger with Franklin, Tennessee-based IASIS Healthcare. 

Policy uncertainty, changing reimbursement models and price transparency are just some of the topics expected to be discussed at the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s upcoming Annual National Institute, which runs from June 25 to 28 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. 

Smoking cessation can be a daunting task for many smokers—but help could be found in your email inbox. An American Cancer Society study, published in Tobacco Control, found personalized and frequent emails were as effective in helping patients quit smoking as many leading medications. 

Activist hedge fund manager Paul Singer of Elliott Management disclosed its 9.2 percent stake in Watertown, Massachusetts-based Athenahealth, sending the company’s stock price soaring.

The only hospital in Polk County, Tennessee, has laid off 15 nurses, halted all inpatient care and started a crowdfunding campaign in hopes of raising $100,000.

A cap could be placed on what “indirect” medical research costs can be covered by National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants, which researchers warn could “disembowel” their institutions.