IBM and Aetna take analytics into cloud

IBM and US health-insurance giant Aetna have partnered on a cloud-based computing health data analytics service that analyses patient data stored in electronic medical records and administrative systems.

The new Collaborative Care Solution analyses clinical and administrative data, integrating clinical decision support tools, and provides clinicians with updates on treatment progress, drug interactions and best practices.

The cloud based hosted solution provides clinical support for physicians, and allows patients to access their own data, without requiring healthcare providers to invest in new infrastructure.

IBM says the new cloud-based service is EMR system-agnostic. The service combines IBM technologies and analytics software used with the ActiveHealth’s evidence-based CareEngine clinical decision support system.

The Collabroative Care Solution is also said to support "evidence-based medicine," expected to become a government requirement in the second-phase of "meaningful use" rules for EMRs. These demanding new rules are expected to be agreed in 2013.

The clinical decision support ‘evidence based medicine requirement’ would ensure that doctors use standard treatments on patients when necessary.

According to IBM the service can analyse medical insurance claims, prescription and laboratory data. Based on the data analysed the service provides data on trends in how patients are responding to treatment for chronic conditions or adhere to drug regimens. It can also automatically alert doctors to conflicting or missed prescriptions.

The test bed for the new service is Sharp Community Medical Group., a San Diego-based health operator, which has begun implementing Collaborative Care Solution to connect its 200 primary care physicians to EMR information and analytics tools.

"The current state of medicine is one of paper records, fragmentation and lack of patient information at the right location and at the right time," said Dr. John Jenrette, CEO of Sharp.

"The patient is not engaged in their own health care and not connected to their clinical information and doctors in an effective manner. The work we are undertaking will create a system that is patient centric. It will provide the connection among primary care physicians, specialty physicians, hospitals and patients to achieve improved clinical outcomes while reducing costs."

According to IBM, the Collaborative Care tools allow hospitals and other health care providers to analyse and share clinical and administrative data through a health information exchange or a health system’s intranet; measure, track and report on clincal quality; and engage patients in their care through the MyActiveHealth secure patient portal.

The cloud-based solution’s advanced analytics can help physicians or health care organizations measure their performance against national or hospital quality standards.