Companies Deploy New Tools and Interventions to Improve Care

Verily, a San Francisco-based subsidiary of Alphabet focused on life sciences and healthcare, announced partnerships with the Veterans Administration Palo Alto Healthcare System (VAPAHCS) and Atrius Health to evaluate and deploy new tools and interventions aimed at optimizing care delivery. The partnerships leverage Verily’s experience in data ingestion, analytics, behavioral activation, and product development to improve the value of care.

“These progressive partners are joining a growing community of health systems, accountable care organizations, and government entities that have partnered with us to research and deploy products that improve the healthcare experience for patients and providers,” says Vivian Lee MD, president of health platforms, Verily.

“(Verily) believes that by empowering patients and providers with new engaging tools and actionable data, we are driving toward a value-based healthcare system that benefits all stakeholders.”

VAPAHCS provides comprehensive patient care services and is one of the top three research programs in the VA. It is collaborating with Verily to analyze and improve the value of healthcare delivered across high-priority condition areas, with initial focus on total knee arthroplasty, acute myocardial infarction, and alcohol withdrawal care. The collective goal is to empower VA staff with advanced tools to increase quality and efficiency, and in the process potentially identify new opportunities for enhanced practice guidelines for VA sites across the country.

Related: Execs Remain Competitive with Emerging Tech

“This important collaboration provides valuable healthcare tools and expertise as part of our mission to ensure Veterans receive the best and most advanced healthcare available,” says U.S. Army Veteran and VAPAHCS director Thomas J. Fitzgerald III. “This initiative is part of our broader commitment, through the recently launched National Center for Collaborative Healthcare Innovation, to bring cutting-edge innovation and technology to VA.”

Atrius Health, New England’s largest independent medical group, will work with Verily to analyze Atrius Health’s population health data in order to identify clinical drivers of hospitalization risk and interventions available to mitigate risk for various types of heart failure patients. The partners aim to deploy new tools that help clinicians intervene earlier and better manage patients with heart failure with the goal of reducing emergency department visits or hospitalizations.

“We look forward to collaborating with Verily to enhance the patient experience, and reduce the overall cost of care by keeping our patients healthy in their communities rather than in the hospital,” says Steve Strongwater, MD, president & CEO, Atrius Health. “This initiative will enable us to dive deep into the underlying challenges faced by our patients with heart failure and to deploy new tools and interventions that provide them the right care when they need it.”