Dive Brief:
- IBM Watson Health today announced plans to acquire Truven Health Analytics for $2.6 billion, which would make its fourth major acquisition related to health data since its launch in April 2015. Truven's cloud-based data set and health claims data will be integrated over time into the Watson Health Cloud.
- Once completed, IBM's health cloud will represent about 300 million patients.
- The purchase will also double IBM Watson's size to about 5,000 employees, Fortune reports, including hundreds of clinicians, epidemiologists, statisticians, healthcare administrators, policy experts, and healthcare consultants.
Dive Insight:
When the deal is finalized, IBM says it will have "invested more than $4 billion to acquire and build an unparalleled array of cognitive healthcare capabilities intended to help professionals improve health outcomes, control costs, and advance value-based care solutions."
Truven, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, provides cloud-based healthcare data, analytics, and insights for more than 8,500 clients, which include federal and state government agencies, health plans, hospitals, clinicians, Becker's Hospital Review reports. Its data inform benefit decisions for one in three Americans, according to the copmanies' press release.
IBM says its Watson Health unit will help clients succeed in the emerging healthcare system focused on improving quality of care while reducing costs through advanced analytics, and actionable insights.
In the past year, Watson Health has acquired Phytel, which offers population health management software solutions; Explorys, a cloud-based healthcare intelligence company; and Merge Healthcare, a medical imaging software company. It has also partnered with Apple, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, and CVS Health.
The deal is expected to close later this year.