Doctor on Demand is providing preventive and behavioral health care as well as team-based chronic illness management for Walmart employees and their dependents in Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Copays are $4, and the balance of costs is covered by Walmart and its insurance administrator, Humana.
The sudden departure of a company's CEO can create a tense, uncertain environment that hurts morale and affects profits, writes Adam Dean, founder and president of Dean Executive Search. Companies can avoid this chaos by creating an emergency succession plan and meeting with potential candidates on a regular basis, Dean writes.
A high school in the Newark School District in New Jersey has opened a business- and finance-focused career academy while another school has an academy focused on the law and public safety. The programs are part of Superintendent Roger León's effort to prepare students for college and careers.
Deere & Co. this year has increased its purchasing of tractors and construction equipment for leasing to farmers and builders. Leasing is more complicated than selling, and the company runs the risk that customers will come to prefer leases over outright purchases, Bob Tita writes.
Special purpose acquisition company Allegro Merger will acquire TGI Friday's and take it public, in a cash, stock and debt deal valued at $380 million. Ray Blanchette will remain as CEO of the casual dining chain, which has 396 US restaurants and 442 international locations, the majority of which are franchises.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement cites patient-centered care as a primary focus for improving health care, and artificial intelligence is among the technologies that can make health care more convenient and patient-focused, writes Myia Health Chief Technology Officer W. Bryan Smith. AI-guided diagnoses and online consultations can save time and improve diagnostic accuracy and outcomes, but health care providers will never be replaced by technology, Smith writes.
This infographic from Campaign Monitor offers insight into the role emojis can play in the marketing mix. It points to the pervasive use of emojis such as their appearance in 5 billion daily Facebook Messenger posts, highlights the most popular ones among consumers and urges brands to tailor their use of the symbol, which varies by country.
Gap is tugging on heartstrings and betting on nostalgia with campaigns highlighting its iconic jeans and branded hoodies. "It started with denim and then the logo hoodie. [We're] reclaiming all the icons we're known for," Chief Marketing Officer Alegra O'Hare said.
⋅ CNET
Jason Cipriani offers an update on the rollout of Rich Communication Services, which would allow mobile device users to share high-resolution content over Wi-Fi and the device's data connections, comparable to what WeChat and WhatsApp support. Some companies and devices already support RCS, but a wide-scale launch may be some time away now that several carriers have announced plans to design their own messaging platforms.
Former Biogen manager Danita Erickson has been awarded $5.9 million in damages in a lawsuit that claimed that she was fired after reporting submission of false diagnostic codes by a colleague to get credit for an off-label prescription of multiple sclerosis treatment Zinbryta.
The federal government could take action to break up giant technology companies that abuse their power, Makan Delrahim, the Department of Justice's antitrust division chief said this week at the WSJ Tech Live conference. Delrahim has assigned several members of his staff to study artificial intelligence and machine learning to gain deeper insight into tech companies' work as an antitrust investigation into companies like Facebook and Google continues.
Daimler soon will introduce what it says is a first: pay-as-you-drive lease financing. The program, which initially will be used on Freightliner Cascadia trucks, involves telematics that will track mileage via the embedded Detroit Connect Platform, with payments based on truck use.
High school students have inspired throngs of activists and ordinary citizens worldwide to join the Global Climate Strike today to demand action on climate change from their national leaders. Over a million students were excused from school in New York City to participate in strike protests, while similar demonstrations are occurring in major cities all over the world.
⋅ Observer
JetBlue's new partnership with Inscape, a "wellness and mindfulness" app, will offer passengers entertainment selections that include meditations, breathing exercises and "sleepscapes." In addition to some of Inscape's standard offerings, flyers can opt for custom content such as "Jet Lag Relief" or "Relaxed Red Eye Sleep."
Swiss-based MSC Cruises, the fourth-largest cruise company, expects to be the world's first carbon-neutral cruise line before Jan. 1 by offsetting its 17 ships' emissions. The new MSC Grandiosa, said to be the "most environmentally advanced cruise ship," recently took to the water in Germany.