WellPoint, Inc. and IBM have agreed to create the first commercial applications of the IBM Watson technology.
According to IBM officials, as per the agreement, WellPoint will “develop and launch Watson-based solutions to help improve patient care through the delivery of up-to-date, evidence-based health care for millions of Americans. IBM will develop the base Watson healthcare technology on which WellPoint’s solution will run.”
“IBM’s supercomputer system is being tapped by one of the nation’s largest health insurers to help diagnose medical problems and authorize treatments,” the Associated Press reported.
Watson, which was named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, is a computing system built by a team of IBM scientists who “set out to build a computing system that rivals a human’s ability to answer questions posed in natural language with speed, accuracy and confidence,” according to an official company statement.
“IBM says the computer can then sift through it all and answer a question in moments, providing several possible diagnoses or treatments, ranked in order of the computer’s confidence, along with the basis for its answer,” the AP said.
In fact, IBM said Watson can “sift through” an equivalent of about 1 million books or roughly 200 million pages of data, and analyze this information and provide precise responses in less than three seconds. WellPoint Inc., which has 34.2 million members, will integrate Watson’s lightning speed and deep health care database, according to the AP, combining data from three sources: a patient’s chart and electronic records that a doctor or hospital have; the insurance company’s history of medicines and treatments; and Watson’s huge library of textbooks and medical journals.
According to IBM officials, depending on the progress of the development efforts, WellPoint anticipates employing Watson technology in early 2012, working with select physician groups in clinical pilots.
“The implications for health care are extraordinary,” Lori Beer, WellPoint’s executive vice president of Enterprise Business Services said in a statement.
“As one of the nation’s largest health insurers, we have an important role to play in helping to improve health care quality. We believe new solutions built on the IBM Watson technology will be valuable for our provider partners, and more importantly, give us new tools to help ensure our members are receiving the best possible care,” Beer said.
Watson is also expected to streamline communication between a patient’s physician and their health plan, helping to improve efficiency in clinical review of complex cases. It could even be used to direct patients to the physician in their area with the best success in treating a particular illness, IBM officials said.
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Erin Harrison is Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives, for TMC, where she oversees the company's strategic editorial initiatives, including the launch of several new print and online initiatives. She plays an active role in the print publications and HealthTechZone, covering IP communications, information technology and other related topics. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
