Amazon has a secretive lab working on cancer research, medical records

CNBC is reporting Amazon’s forays in healthcare include a secretive group called Grand Challenge with projects including applications of machine learning to cancer research and improving risk adjustment for health insurers.

The group is being led by Babak Parviz, the creator of Google Glass. Medical applications are one of its major areas of focus, according to CNBC, with the team partnering with Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center on the machine learning project.

More details were reported on the medical records project. Called Hera, the idea is to take unstructured electronic health record data, capturing patient data which physicians may have missed in their diagnoses, as well as scrubbing inaccuracies which can help insurers better assess the risk of a covered population.

According to CNBC, the group has been developing Hera for at least three years and has begun to pitch the technology to insurance companies.

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John Gregory, Senior Writer

John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.

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