Ryan’s Journal: Live from HIMSS
by Ryan Pew
IBM Watson Health and Broad Institute launch major research initiative to study why cancers become drug resistant.
Hi Folks,
I had the chance to attend one of the largest healthcare IT conferences this week in Orlando known as HIMSS or Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.
What this mouthful of a name means is if you want a venue showcasing the cutting edge technology in healthcare with 40,000 of your closest friends…well you’re in the right spot.
I was there as a representative of my company and had a chance to have some meaningful conversations, but it was the conversations off the floor that were perhaps more valuable.
As anyone who has attended a convention of this size knows, you’re in for a menagerie of vendor sites and sounds. It can be overwhelming and enlightening
While I had some downtime I took a walk on the floor to see what else is occurring within the medtech sector.
During one of these occasions I had a chance to meet with some folks from IBM. Now IBM needs no introduction, but within healthcare they are a new entrant.
They have utilized their Watson cognitive thinking system to tackle some of the toughest problems in medicine today.
They are currently focused on oncology and determining patients at risk or treating mutations earlier than currently possible.
Something that struck me was the fact that this technology is very affordable to their customers. Their mindset is that all people, regardless of income, location, background or country should receive the same level of care as anyone else.
I was floored.
Healthcare is big business and while most mean well, the stated goals are not so noble.
Where did this culture come from at IBM?
As of now I don’t have that answer, but I wanted to at least inform you that a company of that size has genuine concern for the well being of us all.
Flickr image credit: IBM
