Healthful alliance: UPMC, Pitt and CMU join forces in a big way; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 3/19/15

Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Healthful alliance: UPMC, Pitt and CMU join forces in a big way:

"The announcement Monday by the heads of UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University that they were forming the Pittsburgh Health Data Alliance was the unveiling of no mere partnership or collaboration. The alliance aims to marshal the strengths of all three institutions on behalf of the public’s health and well-being.

The initiative, which will be funded largely by UPMC to the tune of $10 million to $20 million a year, will process massive amounts of electronic health data — from insurance records, patient information, genomic profiles, wearable sensors and other sources — to help guide an individual’s medical treatment. This “big data” could also help physicians detect when a new outbreak in a personal ailment might occur and respond more rapidly, before a health problem grows larger.

Success of the alliance will hinge on UPMC’s vast patient data, Pitt’s health science research capabilities and CMU’s leadership in computer science and machine learning. Beyond the real-world diagnosis and care benefits for individual patients, the effort also seeks to spin off commercial businesses and create jobs."