Dell Services and Baystate Health are launching a series of new innovation programs focused on leveraging predictive analytics, big data, and telehealth technologies to improve chronic disease management and population health. TechSpring, a Springfield, Massachusetts innovation accelerator, will help Dell and Baystate Health to perform in-depth investigations into the risks and needs of patient populations, using EHR data, claims information, socioeconomic data, and more to develop models for more efficient care coordination and patient management.
“Health systems, like Baystate Health, have witnessed seismic shifts in healthcare forcing it to change the way it fundamentally does business,” said Joel Vengco, VP and CIO of Baystate Health and Founder of TechSpring. “Transforming our care delivery models, our population management, and our patient engagement is essential to healthcare in the 21st century. Innovation is key to this transformation and we are excited to have found a dynamic and ambitious partner in Dell who can help drive the development of technology and data solutions in healthcare.”
“At Dell, we are focused on finding ways to apply technology and innovation to solve our customers’ most challenging problems,” added Sid Nair, vice president and global general manager, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Dell Services.
“The innovation projects being conducted with Baystate Health are a great example of how technology can help provide better patient care and create a way for healthcare organizations to better manage the plans and treatment of their patients.”
Baystate Health, which serves more than three-quarters of a million patients in the New England region, launched TechSpring in 2014 as a dedicated center for exploring the impact of big data analytics, informatics, and health IT tools on population health management and the challenges of patient care. Dell, a founding sponsor of TechSpring, plans to use its proprietary population health management platform to integrate data and perform predictive analytics to deliver actionable insights to healthcare providers.
The organizations will also investigate new methods of integrating telehealth technologies into patient care. In addition to evaluating the impact of electronic visits on chronic disease management, Dell and Baystate hope to explore the usefulness of free-standing telehealth “pods” that allow patients to engage in a face-to-face video consult.
Telehealth kiosks and permanent remote conferencing stations, such as those produced by HealthSpot, are being piloted by a number of other organizations, including Rite Aid and theCleveland Clinic.
A $5.5 million grant from the Massachusetts Life Science Center brought TechSpring to life in late 2014, comprising a small part of Massachusetts’ 10-year, billion dollar quest to further integrate life sciences research, innovation, and development into the Commonwealth’s economic fabric.
“The use of data has long played a key role in influencing our care for individuals; now, we’re really recognizing its potential to improve the quality of care for populations of people,” said Dr. Evan Benjamin, senior vice president for Healthcare Quality and Population Health at Baystate Health, during the organization’s launch, according to BusinessWest.com. “The work being done at TechSpring has the potential to make major contributions to our understanding of the best approach to caring for chronic conditions that affect communities here in western Massachusetts, across the country and the world.”
