Cloud Computing

Optum has partnered with Medecision and TriZetto to deliver a new platform for Medicaid Management Information Systems that brings features specifically for population health management. Called Optum Medicaid Management Services (OMMS), the new platform is available via a software-as-a-service (SaaS) and business process-as-a-service (BPaaS) model that incorporates Aerial, Medecision’s population health management tools, and TriZetto’s broad Medicaid claims and administrative platform named Facets. The Optum solution provides states with business services, such as Medicaid fee-for-service claims processing, care provider enrollment, call center activities and operations reporting; analytics and data warehousing services that can use data to help states identify needs across their population, focus resources accordingly to improve outcomes, and measure the performance of care providers, health plans and new state-managed programs to improve care; and health services such as wellness and care management programs to improve the health of Medicaid fee-for-service recipients. The companies said states that purchase services instead of setting systems requirements can benefit with shortened IT implementation period with less cost and reduced risk; more choices from proven commercial solutions; improved administrative operations; and access to new technologies and cloud-based approaches that help agencies operate more flexibly. Optum estimates that its SaaS approach could cut by as much as half the timeframe for new MMIS implementations, thereby significantly reducing the time and cost of implementation, and containing operational costs in both the short and long term. Traditionally, MMIS systems – which process Medicaid fee-for-service claims and managed care encounters, and provide reporting on the program – are formally certified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Such certification enables states to access enhanced matching federal funds at the rate of 90 percent for design, development and implementation, and 75 percent for operational expenses. The companies said that in conjunction with the launch of OMMS Optum has received certification from CMS as a Quality Improvement Organization (QIO)” entity, a designation that enables it to perform quality improvement initiatives, and review cases and analyze patterns of care related to quality measures and medical necessity. The QIO-like designation allows states to receive 75 percent federal matching funds when Optum performs these services. “The Optum solution is analogous to states purchasing the electricity they need rather than building the entire power plant,” Optum executive vice president Steve Larsen said in a statement. “Our state Medicaid clients have told us that traditional MMIS program administration approaches – now more than three decades old – needed upgrading to reflect the fast-paced environment and their broadened responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act.” Twitter: @HealthITNews Like Healthcare IT News on Facebook and LinkedIn

IBM is making quantum computing available to the public, providing access to a platform from any desktop or mobile device via the IBM Cloud. It has implications for healthcare, where another supercomputer, IBMWatson, is already at work helping researchers and clinicians eradicate cancer, making sure the world’s population gets better sleep and sorting big data to boost genomics work and precision medicine. With IBM Quantum Experience, the new cloud-based platform unveiled today, users can create algorithms and run experiments, learn about quantum computing through tutorials and simulations and get inspired by the potential of a quantum computer. The goal, say IBM executives, is to make it easier for researchers and the scientific community to accelerate innovations. [See also: IBM Watson teams up with American Cancer Society to pit cognitive computing against cancer.] Today’s announcement comes days after Big Blue launched on April 29, secure blockchain services for healthcare, government and financial services on the IBM Cloud. Blockchain is the technology underpinning bitcoin, but IBM executives and others note that blockchain is much broader than bitcoin. "Clients tell us that one of the inhibitors of the adoption of blockchain is the concern about security," Jerry Cuomo, vice president, Blockchain, IBM, said in a statement. "While there’s a sense of urgency to pioneer blockchain for business, most organizations need help to define the ideal cloud environment that enables blockchain networks to run securely in the cloud." [See also: IBM Watson takes analytics prowess overseas: Supercomputer to work on big data and genomics in Italy.] Blockchain becomes more attractive wrapped in the new security framework IBM introduced on April 29 along with new blockchain services IBM’s quantum processor, IBM Quantum Experience, is housed at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in New York. A universal quantum computer can be programmed to perform any computing task and will be exponentially faster than classical computers for a number of important applications for science and business, according to IBM executives. “Quantum computing is becoming a reality and it will extend computation far beyond what is imaginable with today's computers," said Arvind Krishna, senior vice president and director, IBM Research, said in a statement. "This moment represents the birth of quantum cloud computing. By giving hands-on access to IBM's experimental quantum systems, the IBM Quantum Experience will make it easier for researchers and the scientific community to accelerate innovations in the quantum field, and help discover new applications for this technology." Twitter: @Bernie_HITN Email the writer: bernie.monegain@himssmedia.com      

IBM Watson said it will provide free storage to nonprofit organizations and academic medical center researchers using Apple’s ResearchKit. But developers looking to tap into the supercomputer's analytics will have to pay.

SQL Server 2016 will bring new functions for protecting data in motion and at rest, visual reporting, cloud-first features and big data analytics tools.

CloudMedx, a big data health analytics company, has acquired Gyrus Labs to extend its CloudMedx Analytics Platform, which is designed to help improve patient care through data insights.

Digital document kingpin Adobe has unveiled the first integration between Adobe Sign and Adobe Marketing Cloud. The integration is designed to eliminate costs and inefficiencies surrounding manual, paper-based processes for enrolling and services, including healthcare enrollment, registration and services. Adobe Sign, formerly known as Document Cloud eSign, now features an upgraded and modernized mobile app experience and works in a seamless fashion with Adobe Experience Manager Forms, a key component of Adobe Marketing Cloud. Adobe said this can help an organization go completely digital with anything from credit card applications to government benefit forms to medical forms. Adobe also has announced new Document Cloud storage integrations with Box and Microsoft OneDrive. These integrations are designed to make it easier to access and work on PDF files from anywhere. "Adobe has led the global standard in secure digital documents with the PDF format, and we are working toward the same thing with secure and reliable signatures," said Lisa Croft, group product marketing manager for Document Cloud at Adobe. "And related to Adobe Sign, we are announcing the first integration across the Adobe Marketing Cloud, because we are focused on helping customers deliver good experiences for their customers." Croft cited healthcare as an example, where organizations need, for instance, to digitally obtain information from a patient. "That journey can be a big challenge, to serve the patient appropriately and set everything up," she added. "This new integration is meant to make all of that easier." Tools within Adobe Marketing Cloud can ease the creation of forms with many multiple data fields, and make completing such forms an easier task, Croft said. "In a lot of cases today, healthcare organizations still have to print forms to gather signatures," she said. "With our new integration, we have been able to make that process 100 percent digital. Take all the data and flow it into a final version of a form and then Sign can electronically capture a signature – nothing has to be printed. A healthcare organization can do the whole patient onboarding process without having to print a document."

With Google, IBM and Microsoft all setting sights squarely on healthcare, and analysts predicting 30 percent of providers will run cognitive analytics on patient data by 2018, the risk of investing too late may outweigh the risk of doing so too soon.

The vendor said that the latest changes are driven by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services new Oncology Care Model.

The tool will help create a more accurate profile of behavioral health patients and identify any gaps in care.

The deal ties Dell’s population health solutions into Ensocare’s cloud service for care coordination, the vendors said.