WellPoint, IBM To Collaborate on Diagnosis, Treatment App
On Monday, WellPoint announced plans to partner with IBM's Watson super-computer system to create a commercial application capable of diagnosing medical conditions and authorizing treatment for the insurer's 34.2 million members. The application will combine and sift through data from WellPoint's existing history of medicines and treatments, Watson's expansive library of textbooks and medical journals, and patients' charts or electronic health records. WellPoint officials hope to unveil the system early next year.
- "IBM Putting Watson to Work in Health Insurance" (Fitzgerald, AP/San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/11).
- "WellPoint's New Hire. What Is Watson?" (Wilde Mathews, Wall Street Journal, 9/12).