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According to SmartPlanet, IBM has announced a $100 million  investment over three years to advance health care research.

“Incentives to shift the healthcare system to one that rewards outcomes instead of volume of care.”

IBM, according to SmartPlanet, said it will focus on three key areas:

• Using raw health data to prove treatment approaches and then deliver personalized care. Specifically, IBM is talking about analyzing the data from advanced diagnostics from things like lab tests and EKGs to better to detect problems and intervene as needed.
• Incentives to shift the healthcare system to one that rewards outcomes instead of volume of care. IBM is talking about business processes changes for the health care industry as well as new payment models.
• Privacy and security of patient data.

Personally, I find it disturbing that a computer company had to take it on itself to show the health care industry that the outcomes are what are important. I’ve seen many cases myself that moving patients in and out is more important than correct diagnosis, proper treatments and cures.

What is the last CURE discovered? If you don’t count vaccines and treatments, I can’t name one. Small pox is the only disease which has been eradicated world-wide due to vaccination. Polio has been eradicated in nearly all countries via the same method. People who had already contracted polio, though, were not cured.

Treatments can put cancer into remission (if it’s caught early) and keep HIV patients alive. But again, no cure.

According to the National Organization for Orphaned Diseases, only about 200 of the nearly 7,000 rare diseases even have FDA-approved treatments. RSDS/CRPS is one of those rare diseases with no FDA-approved treatment.

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