Paging Dr. Watson to the Oncology Ward

It wasn't all fun and games for Watson, the IBM super computer that played and won on "Jeopardy." Watson is going to work. One of the first commercial applications of Watson will be its partnership with the health insurance company, Wellpoint, Inc.

Wellpoint currently has two use-cases/pilots in the works with Watson:

Utilization Management (UM) RN Assistant

This pilot will help Wellpoint nurses process treatment requests at a faster rate and with  more efficiency. With the use of Watson Wellpoint nurses can streamline the UM process and support members by providing the best care in accordance with evidence-based guidelines. Wellpoint hopes to reduce administrative costs associated with UM and better manage the health of it's members. The pilot is also designed to teach Watson to provide beneficial clinical information.

Oncology Pilot

The other more exciting pilot involves Cedars-Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, which is partnering with Wellpoint and IBM-Watson to help shape the first health care solution utilizing Watson's technology. The goal for Watson is to assist physicians in evaluating evidence-based treatment options in a matter of seconds. Watson's ability to respond to inquiries posed in natural language and it's powerful processing speeds, allow for evidence-based, scientific analysis of health care data can be done within minutes and empower the physicians and patients to make the best and most effective treatment plan and improve the quality of patient care.


Here's a snippet from the press on the oncology pilot:

WellPoint Inc., which has 34.2 million members, will integrate Watson's lightning speed and deep health care database into its existing patient information, helping it choose among treatment options and medicines.

"This very much fits into the sweet spot of what we envisioned for the applications of Watson," said Manoj Saxena, general manager of an IBM division looking at how the computer can be marketed.

Lori Beer, an executive vice president at Indianapolis-based WellPoint, agreed.

"It's really a game-changer in health care," she said.

The WellPoint application will combine data from three sources: a patient's chart and electronic records that a doctor or hospital has, the insurance company's history of medicines and treatments, and Watson's huge library of textbooks and medical journals.

IBM says the computer can then sift through it all and answer a question in moments, providing several possible diagnoses or treatments, ranked in order of the computer's confidence, along with the basis for its answer.

"Imagine having the ability within three seconds to look through all of that information, to have it be up to date, scientifically presented to you, and based on that patients' medical needs at the moment you're caring for that patient," said WellPoint's chief medical officer, Dr. Sam Nussbaum.