Dive Brief:
- 3M Health Information Services and Alphabet subsidiary Verily Life Sciences have teamed up to develop a population health analytics platform, aimed improving healthcare quality and reducing costs, the companies announced in a joint statement Tuesday.
- Under the partnership, Verily Life Sciences will focus on data analytics and software tools, while 3M will contribute its experience in data coding and risk-stratification.
- Verily, formerly Google Life Sciences, has been an active dealmaker over the past several months, inking partnerships with first GlaxoSmithKline and then Sanofi.
Dive Insight:
As the healthcare industry continues to sprawl, the vast amount of data being generated has lured a number of tech firms into the space, Verily being perhaps one of the most notable.
While the release from the companies is predictably vague and high-level, 3M and Verily said the partnership would aim to filter population-level health data-sets into usable information for eliminating costs and bumping up efficiency.
More specifically, the companies will develop a platform which can take both quality and cost measures into account, such as readmissions, length of stay and mortality.
3M expects to build on its health data coding systems, used by federal agencies, hospital associations and state Medicaid agencies for hospital quality reporting, and for outcomes-base payment models, the company said.
Verily is one of Google's (now Alphabet) most prominent "other bets," or investments not tied to its search and web businesses. While it has received criticism, Verily's tech know-how has enticed a range of Big Pharma companies, including Novartis and Johnson & Johnson.
Just last quarter, Verily announced new collaborations with GlaxoSmithKline on bioelectronic medicines and with Sanofi in a joint venture aimed at diabetes care.
While the deals with Novartis and GSK focus on developing new products such as smart contact lenses, Verily's partnerships with Sanofi and now 3M appear more focused on disease and cost management.