Pushing its new Watson Health business unit, IBM on April 13 announced that its cloud-computing platform will store health data using iOS apps like Apple’s ResearchKit and HealthKit.
Doctors, researchers and other medical professionals can access the data through IBM’s Health Cloud and use the Watson data analytics functionality.
IBM also announced acquisitions of Explorys, which compiles health care data, and Phytel, which manages health care records. Also in the mix is Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic.
Apple’s ResearchKit and HealthKit are development frameworks that can power consumer-oriented health applications.
“Our deep understanding and history in the health care industry will help ensure that doctors and researchers can maximize the insights available through Apple’s HealthKit and ResearchKit data,” John E. Kelly III, SVP of IBM’s research and solutions portfolio, said in a statement.
“IBM’s secure data storage and analytics solutions will enable doctors and researchers to draw on real-time insights from consumer health and behavioral data at a scale never before possible,” he said.
IBM is also using HealthKit to build enterprise health apps that employers can use to manage employee health needs.
Apple SVP of Operations Jeff Williams said ResearchKit allows developers “to take advantage of the power of mobile devices to give them rich data from a diverse global population.”
Williams continued: “Now IBM’s secure cloud and analytics capabilities provide additional tools to help accelerate discoveries across a wide variety of health issues.”
Explorys has compiled a staggering 315 billion health care data points; that information will go into IBM’s Watson Health Cloud.
Mike Rhodin, IBM Watson SVP, said that as “companies face a deluge of data, they need a secure, reliable and dynamic way to share that data for new insight to deliver quality, effective health care for the individual.”
“To address this opportunity, IBM is building a holistic platform to enable the aggregation and discovery of health data to share it with those who can make a difference. With Explorys, IBM will accelerate the delivery of IBM Health Cloud and IBM Watson cognitive solutions to model and apply medical evidence and large-scale analytics to data.”
