Electronic medical records, patient monitoring devices and other technological advances are bringing more and more data into the healthcare industry. The challenge for the industry now is to use that data to lower costs and improve care.
The following four companies offer innovative solutions that harness big data to tackle some of healthcare's most persistent problems.
Castlight Health: Improving health plan selection through big data.
Castlight Health's cloud-based software tracks healthcare costs, such as physician visits or laboratory results, giving employers, healthcare organizations and others a better idea where healthcare resource efficiency could be improved. The product also has an employee-facing portal to help consumers select the best health plan for them based on various factors. Castlight Health's recent initial public offering valued the company at $3 billion, making it the largest IPO this year in any industry. Castlight Health software is currently used by Kraft Foods, CVS Caremark, Indiana University and other large organizations.
Explorys: A holistic approach to big data.
The Explorys platform aggregates data from across an organization and provides business intelligence and population health insights based on information from the whole continuum of care. Developed by Cleveland Clinic physicians and informatics specialists, the platform draws on data from the more than 300 hospitals currently in its network to provide evidence-based insights on best practices with the ultimate goal of improving healthcare delivery. Current users of the Explorys platform include University Hospitals in Cleveland, Portland, Ore.-based Legacy Health, Dallas-based Baylor Scott & White Health, and UnityPoint Health in West Des Moines, Iowa.
RightCare: Using data to reduce readmissions.
RightCare software uses predictive analytics to stratify patient risk at admission. The disease-agnostic algorithm was developed at the University of Pennsylvania to identify patients who are the most likely to face readmissions within either 30 or 60 days. According to the company, RightCare Risk Assessment can reduce instances of 30-day all-cause readmissions by up to 35 percent. RightCare is currently being used at the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, both in Philadelphia. Additionally, Houston Methodist recently announced it would implement RightCare at three of the system's hospitals.
Zephyr Health: Actionable insights to bring innovations to market, faster.
Zephyr Health's platform is able to process data from a variety of sources and display it as actionable information across a series of apps geared toward life sciences organizations. Researchers can then see analyses of which physicians specialize in areas where care might be improved through a new drug, or what payers' reimbursements might be. By putting this type of information in front of life sciences researchers and companies, Zephyr Health aims to speed up the research and development process. The company recently raised an additional $15 million in funding.
More Articles on Health IT Companies:
7 Statistics on Health IT Venture Funding in Q1
4 Healthcare-Related Apps for Google Glass
Health IT Funding Breaks Records in Q1