Enterprise IT vendor IBM today made several announcements in order to strengthen its healthcare IT business.
Some of the key announcements from IBM include the acquisition of Explorys and Phytel; setting up of a Watson Health Cloud; association with Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic and starting a dedicated business unit called IBM Watson Health.
As part of expanding its healthcare IT business, IBM is setting up a Watson Health Cloud that will provide a platform for physicians, researchers, insurers and companies focused on health and wellness solutions.
IBM will associate with companies including Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic to optimize consumer and medical devices for data collection, analysis and feedback.
The company will acquire Explorys and Phytel to advance its healthcare analytics capabilities. IBM did not share financial details.
It will set up a dedicated business unit – IBM Watson Health, to be headquartered in the Boston, MA, area.
John E Kelly III, IBM senior vice president, solutions portfolio and research, said: “We need better ways to tap into and analyze all of this information in real-time to benefit patients and to improve wellness globally.”
The result of IBM’s association with Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic will be better insights, real-time feedback and recommendations to improve everything from personal health and wellness to acute and chronic care.
IBM and Apple will expand their partnership with IBM Watson Health Cloud to provide a cloud platform and analytics for Apple’s HealthKit and ResearchKit.
Johnson & Johnson will partner with IBM to create coaching systems centered on preoperative and postoperative patient care, including joint replacement and spinal surgery. Solutions will be mobile-based, accessing the Watson Health Cloud and leveraging IBM Watson’s cognitive capabilities.
Johnson & Johnson will launch new health apps targeting chronic conditions, which currently cost consumers as much as 80 percent of the $7 trillion global healthcare spend.
Medtronic will leverage the Watson Health Cloud insights platform to collaborate with IBM around delivery of new personalized care management solutions for people with diabetes.
IBM acquisitions
IBM is set to acquire Cleveland-based Explorys and Dallas-based Phytel, two healthcare technology companies.
Explorys, a spin-off from the Cleveland Clinic in 2009, is used by 26 integrated healthcare systems to identify patterns in diseases, treatments and outcomes. It integrates more than 315 billion clinical, financial, and operational data elements, spanning 50 million unique patients, 360 hospitals, and more than 317,000 providers. IDC named Explorys global leader in Healthcare Clinical and Financial Analysis.
Phytel, which will be acquired by IBM, develops and sells cloud-based services that help healthcare providers and care teams work together to ensure care is effective and coordinated in order to meet new healthcare quality requirements and reimbursement models.
The acquisitions bolster IBM’s efforts to apply advanced analytics and cognitive computing to help primary care providers, large hospital systems and physician networks improve healthcare quality and effect healthier patient outcomes.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
