Company contributes to Ga. Tech's interoperability lab

A national technology company has made a $40,000 donation toward Georgia Institute of Technology's Interoperability & Integration Innovation Lab (I3L), a virtual and physical laboratory for health IT.

The donation made by Reston, Va.-based Leidos will help Georgia Tech develop a pilot demonstration at I3L to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. The pilot demonstration includes collaboration with the Georgia Department of Public Health and University of Georgia Public Health Department.

"This gift from Leidos will provide students with the time and resources they need to begin the build-out of a data analytics platform to transparently help self-insured employers optimize the value--foremost patient health outcomes--of the healthcare dollars they expend," said Myung Choi, technical manager at I3, in a press release. "We are excited about this opportunity and the early interest by both large and small Georgia-based, self-insured employers."

"Georgia Tech has been at the forefront of improving public health through the application of technology," Doug Barton, chief technology officer at Leidos Health and member of the I3L Industry Advisory Board, said in a statement. "Leidos is pleased to support the pioneering work underway at I3L that reflects a much needed shift in academic research toward healthcare interoperability."

Leidos works with federal and commercial health customers to develop and implement standards-based solutions to ensure interoperability of healthcare information systems, including EHRs, and support secure exchange of health information.

The mission of the I3L is to facilitate the future state of health IT toward better health and higher quality healthcare through applied technology. This "living laboratory" provides participants access to a wide array of resources with which to experiment and innovate.