Microsoft and Walgreens Pair Up Amid Fierce Competition to Deliver Digital Health Care

January 15, 2019

(STAT News) – Microsoft has struck a deal with Walgreens to build digital health tools for pharmacy customers that will include efforts to use artificial intelligence to deliver stepped-up telehealth, improve medication adherence, and reduce emergency room visits. The impact of the seven-year partnership, announced Tuesday, remains to be seen, but it represents another attempt by a large provider of health care services to increase the use of technology to deliver medicines and medical advice. The world’s largest technology companies, including Apple, Amazon, and Google, are making aggressive forays into health care, both through partnerships with providers and the development of their own health care businesses.