Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google released technology Wednesday to help governments track the spread of Covid-19 through apps that notify users if they have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The tech giants, which make the world’s dominant smartphone operating systems, jointly developed the protocol for apps that can use Bluetooth signals from mobile devices to identify those that have been near each other….

Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google released technology Wednesday to help governments track the spread of Covid-19 through apps that notify users if they have been exposed to someone who tested positive for the coronavirus.

The tech giants, which make the world’s dominant smartphone operating systems, jointly developed the protocol for apps that can use Bluetooth signals from mobile devices to identify those that have been near each other….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article

Some of the largest health insurers are capitalizing on recent massive deals by steering patients toward clinics they now own, controlling both delivery and payment for health care.

The trend creates worries for rival doctor groups and hospital companies that have invested deeply in buying up physician practices, which now increasingly compete against offerings from insurers.

Some of the largest health insurers are capitalizing on recent massive deals by steering patients toward clinics they now own, controlling both delivery and payment for health care.

The trend creates worries for rival doctor groups and hospital companies that have invested deeply in buying up physician practices, which now increasingly compete against offerings from insurers….

— Read the full article from The Wall Street Journal

The drug industry doesn’t pack the lobbying punch it once did, and one sign is something rare in the capital today—a dose of bipartisanship.

The drug industry doesn’t pack the lobbying punch it once did, and one sign is something rare in the capital today—a dose of bipartisanship.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) joined Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) to write a bill last July to regulate prescription-drug prices, an idea the industry has bottled up since the 1960s. Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) sponsored a bill in May to block drug companies from using patent laws to delay lower-priced drugs….

— Read the full article from The Wall Street Journal

New Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen M. Hahn rises at 4 a.m. each day for an hour of intensive strength and stamina training. On stressful days, he fits a second workout in during the late afternoon.

New Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen M. Hahn rises at 4 a.m. each day for an hour of intensive strength and stamina training. On stressful days, he fits a second workout in during the late afternoon.

Given the politically tricky waters ahead, those twice-daily workouts may soon become the norm.

— Read the full article from The Wall Street Journal

Drugmakers are experimenting with new ways to get paid for their most expensive medicines, as resistance to escalating prices builds and the collection and analysis of patient data improves.

Now that six-figure price tags are common, drug companies are finding creative ways to get reimbursed, from installment plans and subscriptions to more complex value-based contracts that tie payment to when a drug helps a patient. For years, pharmaceutical companies would typically set a price for a drug and then get paid per pill sold….

Drugmakers are experimenting with new ways to get paid for their most expensive medicines, as resistance to escalating prices builds and the collection and analysis of patient data improves.

Now that six-figure price tags are common, drug companies are finding creative ways to get reimbursed, from installment plans and subscriptions to more complex value-based contracts that tie payment to when a drug helps a patient. For years, pharmaceutical companies would typically set a price for a drug and then get paid per pill sold….

— Read the full The Wall Street Journal article