Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals is working with IBM to launch cognitive hospital rooms powered by IBM Watson Internet of Things (IoT).
Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals have three facilities with more than 900 acute care beds and are part of Jefferson Health in Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
With this IT deal, the healthcare institution aims to enhance the patient experience and provide personalized care to its patients.
According to a press statement, Jefferson is currently planning to deploy speakers in some hospital rooms.
These in-room speakers are connected to the IBM Watson IoT Platform that taps Watson cognitive computing and natural language capabilities.
They provide patients in those rooms with access to basic information, as well as more control over their surroundings to help make their stay more comfortable.
Moreover, this platform provides the ability to easily access hospital data that is relevant and important for patients and the types of questions they typically may have about their hospital stay.
“Being in a hospital can often be a hectic, anxiety-ridden, or even intimidating experience for patients and their loved ones. If we can minimize that discomfort, even a little, we are doing a lot to increase the well-being and care of our patients,” said Neil Gomes, Vice President for Technology Innovation and Consumer Experience at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health.
“Thanks to our visionary President and CEO, Stephen Klasko, we are able to invest in new innovations like the Watson IoT-powered speakers to give our patients the ability to interact in natural language to get basic, but important, information about their hospital visit without having to buzz in for a nurse.”
IBM is executing its strategy to combine its supercomputer Watson with Internet of Things in an effort to take the lead in the connected world. The company sees its future in its Artificial Intelligence business.
The company said it has 6,000 clients globally who are tapping Watson IoT solutions and services, up from 4,000 just 8 months ago.
IBM Monday announced $200 million investment in its Watson Internet of Things business headquartered in Munich, Germany.
This is one of the company’s largest ever investment in Europe and is part of the $3 billion global investment designed to bring Watson cognitive computing to IoT.
The enterprise IT vendor said the investment is in response to escalating demand for IoT and Artificial Intelligence technologies from the region.
The fund will be used to run hands-on industry labs to drive collaborative innovation in the automotive, electronics, manufacturing, healthcare and insurance industries.
Jefferson joins German automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler and the Netherlands-based designer and producer of unmanned aircraft systems Aerialtronics in IBM’s mission.
