Blue-Led Claims Database Partners with Pharma Analytics Company

Parsippany, N.J.-based IMS Health, a healthcare technology provider, has signed an agreement with Health Intelligence Company, a database that operates as Blue Health Intelligence (BHI), to use the latter's claims database within IMS' pharmaceutical analytics services.

BHI is a data warehouse with information on 54 million members across several Blue health plans. Joseph Smith, CIO and SVP of private programs at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, told Insurance & Technology last year about the initiative, which includes an investment in Lakeland, Fla.-based Intelimedix, which in turn has developed business intelligence and analytics systems for BHI.

Under the terms of the agreement, IMS's information assets are extended to link industry-leading healthcare information, including prescription drug, electronic medical record, hospital services and demographic data. The new capabilities will be offered as IMS PharMetrics Plus. The company says that it will support "a broad range of applications, from epidemiological studies and comparative effectiveness and safety research, to commercial analytics."

"By bringing together the collective data and intelligence of IMS and HIC, we are enabling decision makers to access, manage and gain insights about the total patient experience in near real time," says Andrew Kress, senior vice president, IMS Healthcare Value Solutions, in a statement. "We recognize the increasing interconnectedness of healthcare stakeholders, and the power of applying technology to provide integrated patient-level insights to inform the healthcare quality and value dialogue."

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio