"Managing health, be it for a single patient or an entire population, is an overwhelmingly complex challenge," said Gary An, Assistant Professor of Trauma and Critical Care at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Despite the critical influence of cultural, socio-economic and environmental factors, the doctor-patient relationship remains the mainstay of "delivering" healthcare: all these complex issues need to meld into a single thread of conversation as I talk to my patient. Therefore, any initiative “ like the one IBM is launching “ that can help bring together these disparate and often potentially contradictory forces and aid me in tailoring how I can help my patient improve his or her health, is both greatly needed, and greatly welcomed."

The IBM Research project could help pinpoint incentives governments and businesses might offer or what types of investments might be needed and how to prioritize them. For example, to foster an environment that helps people make healthier choices, the project could simulate different models to incent retailers to locate grocery stores near key transportation hubs so people without cars can get to them. In another scenario, it could provide more understanding around impact of food labels and how they might affect marketing practices, buying habits or school lunch quality.

"In many cases, the data and models exist. They just need to be put together in a consumable way that shows the wider connections and potential actions that can enhance individual and community health," said Paul Maglio, research scientist, IBM Research “ Almaden. "This is a huge challenge from both a social and technological perspective, but we believe our expertise in service science, computational modeling, math and large-scale analytics can help answer these important questions."

IBM intends to partner with public policy and food experts, medical clinicians, economists, simulation experts, industry leaders, universities and others in this collaborative endeavor.

Last week IBM gathered many of the leading thinkers from these areas at the 10th annual Almaden Institute in San Jose, California to discuss the fundamental issues of this grand challenge and to make connections to establish ecosystem-wide, fact-based, and scientifically sound decision making about health.

SOURCE IBM