IBM Watson hosts AI X Prize. With the Tricorder X Prize concluded, the X Prize foundation is tackling another hot topic in healthcare: artificial intelligence. Although the IBM Watson-sponsored $5 million prize allows participants to tackle any problem they want, expect to see a number of entries in healthcare, where AI is currently a hot topic and where IBM Watson has been invested for some time.

Able Health secures CMS approval. Silicon Valley company Able Health, which helps providers navigate complex payment programs, has been approved by CMS as a MIPS Qualified Registry under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. This will allow the company to submit data to CMS, which will help provider customers to more easily track their performance and secure reimbursement. 

Pixie announces UTI-detecting smart pads. New York-based Pixie Scientific has completed FDA registration for its Pixie Smart Pads, which will use sensors and software to monitor for UTIs in incontinent seniors. The pads contain a biosensor that can detect an analyte associated with UTIs. The devices are also being shipped to early access customers.

Altra launches smart coaching sneakers. According to a review in Ars Technica, Altra has launched a shoe called the Altra Tobin IQ which not only contains sensors that measure things like distance, pace, cadence, landing zone, and impact rate, but also sends that data to an app that feeds it into an AI running coach that can give the user tips as they run. A pair of Altra Tobin IQs runs about $220.

More on that Iodine-Good Rx merger. In a new column in Inc. Magazine, Iodine CEO Thomas Goetz shared some more details about his company’s recent merger. He says Iodine started exploring M&A when they realized they had a solid product and good user satisfaction and uptake but, because of slow sales cycles in healthcare, couldn’t turn that into profit. “Three years of effort were finally bearing fruit,” the former WIRED editor writes, “But nobody was actually buying the fruit.”