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IBM is joining with Apple Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic Plc to create a technology that will make it easier for health-care companies to analyze patient data. International Business Machines Corp. announced a cloud-computing platform, called Watson Health Cloud, which can store and analyze anonymous patient data. A business unit will be created around the offering with at least 2,000 specialists, IBM said in a statement. (Koons and Barinka, 4/13)

An unlikely set of partners teamed up to capitalize on a gathering flood of health-related personal information. International Business Machines Corp. unveiled on Monday a partnership with Apple Inc.,Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic Inc., as well as the acquisition of two medical-data software companies. Known as Watson Health, the effort transfers IBM’s experience in data processing to the sensitive field of health care, part of an evolving strategy to pool and analyze data from other companies, such as Twitter Inc. and the Weather Channel. It will attempt to leverage the tech company’s analytics and health-care software businesses into a new generation of apps for patients and providers. (Dwoskin, 4/13)

The health care sector has become the hot target for hackers in recent months, according to researchers at Symantec, a leading cybersecurity company that says it's also seeing big increases in "spear-phishing," ''ransomware" and efforts to exploit newly discovered vulnerabilities in software used by a wide range of industries. (4/14)

As the privacy officer for The Advisory Board Co., Rebecca Fayed knows a thing or two about privacy and what can happen when it's violated. But when Fayed received a letter telling her that she, like nearly 80 million others, was the victim of a hacking attack on health insurer Anthem Inc., she couldn't figure out why. Anthem wasn't her insurance provider. (Ornstein, 4/14)

A former candidate for Kansas governor said Monday that he and other attorneys who are suing two subsidiaries of Anthem Inc. can show that individuals were harmed after hackers breached the health insurer's computer networks. Paul Davis and other attorneys who filed the lawsuit earlier this month in Douglas County District Court on behalf of a Kansas City, Kansas, woman also are urging participants in the state's Medicaid program to consider joining the case. A similar lawsuit was filed in February in St. Louis County, Missouri. (Hanna, 4/13)

ManTech International Corp. has named John Dorman vice president and chief information officer for its health IT unit. He’s the first CIO for the firm’s health-care business as the federal technology provider expands its work with electronic health records and information sharing. Mr. Dorman will oversee technology products and services for public sector customers including the Defense Health Agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the company said in a statement. He will report to Steve Comber, SVP and general manager of ManTech Health. (Norton, 4/13)