Dignity Health, one of the largest health systems in the United States, will leverage business intelligence (BI) software provider SAS for big data and predictive analytics. The organizations are working together to launch a cloud-based, big data analytics platform. SAS said the platform will be powered by a library of clinical, social and behavioral analytics.

“Dignity Health and SAS share a common vision for the critical role that analytics will play in the future of healthcare delivery,” SAS Chief Medical Officer Graham Hughes, MD, said in a prepared statement. “We will bring our best experts and leverage the unmatched power of SAS’s complete suite of analytics software to help Dignity Health establish a new benchmark for care delivery innovation, with a focus on improving patient health outcomes and controlling costs.”

Graham told Talkin’ Cloud he believes the collaboration ultimately will help Dignity Health improve its patient care quality and health outcomes.

“The collected big data and the analytic insights will help Dignity Health improve patient care quality and health outcomes, operations and financial performance,” he said. “Areas of focus include care planning for individuals and populations, including predictive modeling and disease management, and insights to strengthen reimbursement models with a focus on paying for outcomes.”

What does the new platform mean for both organizations?

Dignity Health Chief Information Officer Deanna Wise said the SAS cloud-based analtyics platform will help her organization better analyze data to optimize and customize patient treatments.

SAS, meanwhile, pointed out the collaboration could benefit both organizations for years to come.

“The long-term goal of this collaboration is to create a cloud-based app store of analytics capability and then expand so that other organizations can also benefit,” Graham added.

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