In addition to funding, August was an impressive month for acquisitions in the digital health space.

Apple’s acquisition of PHR company Gliimpse was probably the most high-profile. The company helps people collect the “bread crumbs” of their health data in one centralized repository. Ever since Apple launched its HealthKit framework in mid-2014, the company has seen enabling health data sharing as its entry point into healthcare, and Gliimpse fits right into those plans. Apple also has a history of working with EHRs, most notably Epic, to integrate HealthKit data. Gliimpse's code could help Apple products to more easily interact with hospital systems, or it could bolster safety and security for the company, as those are also major selling points of Gliimpse.

Another major acquisition was health IT company athenahealth’s purchase of Filament Labs, makers of Patient IO, which allows patients to access their care plans through a series of actionable daily tasks on a mobile or web-based application. Patient IO will form the basis for athenahealth’s new patient-facing application, athenawell. Patients can use Patient IO to play more engaged, ongoing role in their own care, including medication management to recording self-reported data or learning more about their health. 

Two more acquisitions rounded out the month: Pennsylvania-based CRF Health, provider of electronic clinical outcome assessment solutions (eCOA) for clinical trials, acquired pioneering digital health company Entra Health and Cardinal Health, an Ohio-based healthcare products and services company, acquired TelePharm, an Iowa-based company which, among other things, uses telemedicine to connect pharmacists to patients. All four of the month’s acquisitions were at as-yet undisclosed price points.