We already have WellPoint out there as a reseller of IBM Watson which I understand is not moving super fast so here’s yet another MD decision making platform except this one is refined to oncology. There’s a number of these out there
today that aggregate and bring in additional data so outcomes outside the local environment can be viewed which helps the doctors with decision making, again who’s tool are they going to use might be the question here and of course cost enters in there somewhere too.
With using big data in a cloud you can easier deploy a “super search” query if you will. The platform from Flatiron also takes non structured data into the queries. Who knows at some point we might have big clouds out there for every medical specialty and then we’ll need another cloud platform on top of it to enable a full service hospital to use. It kinds of looks like that’s the way it’s developing as software builds on itself. Let’s hope it stays affordable as that’ the big problem with software eating everyone out of house and home, and it’s not just in healthcare either, it’s everywhere. The platform was probably one of the best vehicles ever built to assure continued software income but it also serves a good purpose as well if designed and engineered correctly and with a good user interface. You can see here what IBM Watson did with Sloan Kettering on their platform that rides on top of medical records. Below I ask the question too about the big data dilemma too and the complexities. IBM also bought another company that will ride on the Watson platform and gather data for well being which in turn will be more data 
for sale, so they would have a side business to supplement revenue streams.
Are the World’s IT Infrastructures Today Even Too Complex for IBMWatson? It’s All About Generating The “Right” Context, Only Your Query Master Knows For Sure…
Then we move on over to Altos Solutions, the oncology medical records arm of this and the two programs will integrate. It’s a full on medical records system set up for Meaningful Use where Oncologists can qualify for the medical stimulus money. I do understand the special needs of Oncologists for sure as there’s much more to their practice especially if they are involved in any clinical trials as well.
I don’t see any mention of selling this “cloud data” yet from what I have read here but someone will come along and say “yes, we need to sell this for the good of research”…well why they donate it for the “good of research”..that’s just my thinking and keep the efforts pure. You have so many efforts in this area like Mayo and their agreement with United Healthcare Labs to donate de-identified medical records data which gets queried and sold to medical device and drug companies so they can see how their products are doing. Mayo is doing it because they see a future of less revenue coming in.
It certainly should allow a great search of clinical trial information. That area is getting a little touch and go as well as now we have some data selling going on there too. If we didn’t have such a huge problem with our current “data selling” epidemic in the US, I think we would be on better path as people would really be doing things “for the good”. Right now though with everything I read I seem to always want to put my “data mechanics” hat on and visualize as best I can and somewhere along the line data selling creeps in there. Right now too we have this clinical trial company that works with a subsidiary company of United Healthcare as well with marketing clinical data information and making some money along the way.
Next Up In The US Data Selling Epidemic- Clinical Trial Data Mining Recruiters Buying From Credits Agencies, Banks And Who Knows Where Else…
Anyway back on course, Google has now slipped it’s way into the Health IT/Medical Records business through this $130 million dollar investment. BD
Google Ventures has made its largest medical software investment yet, providing the bulk of a $130 million financing for Flatiron Health Inc., which aggregates cancer-patient data from a wide variety of sources to help doctors make treatment decisions.
First Round Capital, Laboratory Corporation of America and angel investors also contributed to the Series B financing, which will partially be used to acquire electronic medical records company Altos Solutions Inc. Valuation was not disclosed.
Fortune earlier reported Flatiron was raising a nine-digit round led by Google Ventures.
“We don’t generally make investments of $100-plus million,” said Bill Maris, managing partner with Google Ventures. “When we do make an investment of this size, it means we really believe in the team, and the product, and the good that it can do for the world.
Doctors pondering a course of treatment for cancer patients use Flatiron to review other cases, and can see what outcomes various treatments have brought in the past, Mr. Maris said. Flatiron complies with privacy laws, meaning that doctors using the platform do not learn the identities of patients who are not their own.
Between 500 and 1,000 oncologists are currently using Flatiron’s data platform, said Flatiron co-founder Nathaniel Turner, who with co-founder Zach Weinberg sold their previous company, Invite Media, to Google.
“This acquisition of Altos is like rocket fuel for Flatiron,” Mr. Maris said. “Here you have two companies with very complementary technologies, both working in oncology. It’s a significant step forward for cancer care.”
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