- Allscripts life sciences arm Veradigm is teaming up with Microsoft in an attempt to change the way clinical trials are conducted.
- The aim is to develop an integrated research model that allows trial data to be collected through point-of-care technology platforms in an attempt to speed time to market of new therapies while reducing research and development costs.
- The collaboration will initially focus on extending Allscripts cloud-based EHR platforms with features such as automated “matchmaking” between trial protocols and doctors and patients who qualify for the studies.
The partnership is Microsoft’s latest effort in healthcare using artificial intelligence and Azure, the tech giant’s cloud computing service. Microsoft recently announced the availability of FHIR Server for Azure, an open-source project on GitHub aimed at easing the exchange and management of healthcare data in the cloud.
Last summer, Microsoft joined Amazon, Google, IBM, Oracle and Salesforce in committing to remove barriers to the adoption of technologies for healthcare interoperability, especially when possible through the cloud and AI. More recently, the company upped its ante in the industry with the creation of a formal unit, Microsoft Healthcare.
In addition to building out cloud-based EHRs, the Allscripts-Microsoft project will likely include pilot programs to explore and develop processes, workflows and a compliance framework to support research done using the new trial model.
Veradigm officials likened the project’s potential to improve clinical research to the way rideshare apps disrupted traditional taxi services.
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“By integrating research at the point of care, we have the potential to lower costs, increase efficiencies, and remove bottlenecks that inhibit research, all while improving the welfare of patients,” Veradigm CEO Tom Langan said in a statement.
Big Data is fueling a “new gold rush” of tech companies eager to cash in on its business opportunities, a Fortune analysis concluded last year. Personal information, health histories, medical claims, medications, clinical trials and academic research produce roughly 750 quadrillion bytes of data daily — nearly a third of data worldwide, according to the report.
In a research note, Leerink praised the Allscripts push into life sciences via Veradigm and the Microsoft partnership. However, the bank questioned Allscripts’ rosy three-year revenue CAGR forecast of 5.5% to 9% — 1.5% to 2.5% of which ties to Veradigm.
“We like how MDRX is pursuing new higher growth markets, but at the same time we believe that VEEV [Veeva Systems] and MDSO [Medidata Solutions] are extremely well penetrated in the clinical trials space and we have a tough time seeing how the market will be ‘transformed,’ the note reads. “In our view, the announcement and presentation seem to suggest a pivot of strategy focused on capitalizing on the robust growth of the life sciences industry.”
Date: January 15, 2019
Source: HealthcareDive