Big data is technology that brings data and architecture together so some analytic platform can turn data into wisdom, said John D. Halamka, MD, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, speaking at Health Care Innovation Day, an event jointly hosted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the West Health Institute.

The past 40 years has produced major advances in cancer care, with imaging and genomics revealing the molecular abnormalities in individual tumors in vast detail.

February 5, 2014, South Bend, Indiana – Press Ganey, the leading patient experience improvement firm, today announced that its Quality PerformerSM Hospital eMeasures 1.3 solution has been certified for use by eligible hospitals to meet Meaningful Use Stage 2 Clinical Quality eMeasures reporting requirements as of December 5, 2013. Certified as an EHR Module under the Drummond Group’s Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) program, this solution is compliant in accordance with the criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The Department of Defense is launching a $45 million data mining project, called Big Mechanism, to help track and advance cancer research, according to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announcement.

The Veterans Health Administration and Kaiser Permanente will pool their resources to research and share best practices.

A study in the February issue of Health Affairs examining characteristics of high-price hospitals adds strength to the argument that market clout and reputation allow some hospital systems to negotiate better rates from payors and drive up costs.

Big data analytics is coming to Walgreens' health clinics. The company is implementing a patient assessment tool and technology platform to bolster improvements in care, quality and risk score accuracy programs in more than 400 healthcare clinics at select locations, according to an announcement.

GNS Healthcare, a leading provider of big data analytics products and services in healthcare, today announced the completion of a $10M Series B financing. Cambia Health Solutions, a Series A investor, was joined in the round by two additional strategic investors: California's Heritage Provider Network, and Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc. ("Mitsui USA"). This round of financing will be used to expand GNS Healthcare's successful data analytics business across the healthcare industry.