Georgia’s largest health care system, Emory Healthcare, announced a partnership with Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which is focused on life sciences and healthcare.

The aim of the partnership, built on Emory’s capabilities as an academic medical center and Verily’s expertise in data science, analytics, user experience and product development, is to develop and deploy a host of solutions to help improve cost-effectiveness, operational efficiency and quality of healthcare.

One of the first areas of organizational change the two partners will focus on is a deep analysis of existing medication and lab ordering patterns at Emory, which will in turn be followed by solutions to improve the processes involved in those areas

THE LARGER TREND
The partnership with Emory Healthcare is the latest in a series of projects across clinical research and clinical care that Verily has undertaken to support the advancement of health system ecosystems to value-based care models: Atrius Health and Veterans Administration Palo Alto are already working with Verily.

Earlier this month the company announced it was partnering with Wake Forest Baptist Health and its Center for Healthcare Innovation to implement solutions to improve the health and wellness of older adults and help them remain independent at home.

The research partnership, which will leverage Wake Forest Baptist’s unique expertise healthy aging and Alzheimer’s disease research and clinical care, will test interventions that promote physical and cognitive independence and facilitate greater involvement of older adults in decisions related to their health and wellness preferences.

The life science company’s reach is global, announcing at the start of 2019 a project to use artificial intelligence to screen for diabetic retinopathy in India – the machine learning algorithm can also help with screening for diabetic macular edema.

A year ago, Verily and Walmart began looking at emerging technologies, such as a virtual diabetes program and a medication adherence pilot, in an effort to combine Verily’s tech with Walgreens stores, with plans to collaborate on several fronts to improve care for people with chronic conditions.

ON THE RECORD
"As physicians, we can improve what we can measure," said Dr. Vivian Lee, president of health platforms for Verily, in a statement. "This initiative will put actionable data in the hands of teams on the front lines of care delivery. Emory Healthcare is already on the forefront of harnessing data to improve healthcare quality and innovation. We look forward to learning from this impressive partner and to deploying new solutions to old problems."