Cloud Computing

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.

The potential next EHR would more closely resemble modern interfaces such as Google and Facebook and leverage FHIR, if the VA indeed opts to move away from VistA. Undersecretary David Shulkin said the department is evaluating the best way forward. 

Cloud-based athenahealth is expanding its portfolio to include machine learning and artificial intelligence with its acquisition of analytics startup Arsenal Health.

IBM and the American Cancer Society are putting IBM Watson’s cognitive computing skills to work to advise people with cancer, as well as to counsel caregivers and survivors, officials said on Tuesday.

Some experts are predicting a spike in denials beginning on Oct. 1, 2016 when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will require claims to be more specific. Forward-looking providers are assembling teams to prepare now. 

Family Medical Specialists in Florida is using care management technology to get paid under CPT code 99490, and the practice has already gotten buy-in from almost every eligible patient.

The Genome Analysis Toolkit, dubbed GATK, will be available as a hosted service and a fistful of leading cloud vendors will also contribute to future generations of genome analysis technology.