IBM lobbies Congress for less Watson oversight; Laptop, smartphone stolen from nurse employed by BA of Senior Health Partners;

News From Around the Web

> IBM is pushing Congress to ease federal oversight on its Watson artificial intelligence platform when it comes to helping doctors diagnose diseases, Bloomberg recently reported. Article

> New York-based Senior Health Partners recently notified 2,700 of its members that a laptop and smartphone belonging to a nurse employed by a business associate were stolen from the nurse's apartment last November. The laptop was password-protected and encrypted, however, the encryption key was stolen with the laptop bag, according to an announcement. The smartphone was neither password-protected nor encrypted. Announcement

Health Insurance News

> Because Aetna wrongly identified some 5,000 pharmacies as being in-network, the insurer, "at CMS' urging," will give more than 400,000 Medicare beneficiaries until the end of February to either find other pharmacies or switch plans. Article

> UnitedHealth Group is offering more carrot and less stick in its new wellness program, which can save participants hundreds of dollars on their premiums. Article

Mobile Health News

> Northwestern Medicine researchers are studying the use of a wearable fitness tracker for patients recuperating from spine surgery, and with promising results physicians believe the technology may lead to a universal recovery evaluation approach. Article

And Finally... That's one heck of a wrong number. Article