Health systems, vendors launch Data Alliance Collaborative

Four health systems, IBM and the Premier healthcare alliance have formed an alliance to improve population health by sharing data analytics and business intelligence strategies and knowledge.

Members of the Data Alliance Collaborative are pooling together their knowledge, data and resources to accelerate efficiencies and cost savings while avoiding duplication of effort, the joint announcement explained. Their initial projects include:

• Development of a model designed to quickly notify providers of patients who have failed to fill their prescriptions within 24 hours of discharge
• Development of an all-cause predictive readmissions model that analyzes both EMR and administrative data to identify patients most likely to be readmitted before they are discharged

“Instead of investing in and developing multiple, fragmented solutions that address the same problem, we’re pooling resources to develop single solutions we all can use,” Terry Carroll, senior vice president of transformation and CIO for Fairview Health Services, and DAC chair, said in a statement. “We’re using big data, as opposed to local or siloed data, and will get richer insights as a result. Sharing assets and testing new and innovative ways to use analytics will help us achieve system-wide change that positively impacts quality, cost and the care experience.”

Alliance members include: Carolinas HealthCare System (Charlotte, N.C.), Catholic Health Partners (Cincinnati), Fairview Health Services (Minneapolis), Texas Health Resources (Arlington, Texas), IBM and Premier healthcare alliance.  In all, members operate nearly 100 hospitals and 1,600 non-acute sites serving more than 28 million people.