IBM, Apple, Johnson & Johnson in partnership to transform healthcare delivery

IBM will be working with Apple and Johnson & Johnson around a new generation of intelligent virtual coaching solutions and applications designed to transform the patient experience and deliver improved health outcomes.

The planned collaboration is intended to provide healthcare systems with holistic virtual coaching and rehabilitation solutions striving to transform the patient experience and healthcare delivery model by creating an integrated view of patient care.

Through the collaboration, Johnson & Johnson would also leverage IBM’s relationship with Apple, Inc. to deliver new iPhone and iPad applications, providing a seamless user experience and intuitive design.

Johnson & Johnson and IBM’s newly-formed Watson Health unit intend to use advanced data analysis and insights to help develop personalized patient engagement and coaching solutions that span consumer wellness and chronic condition management.

“Johnson & Johnson is committed to harnessing the power of technology and our unique capabilities to solve the most significant challenges in health care,” said Sandi Peterson, Johnson & Johnson Group Worldwide Chairman. “This relationship with IBM would enable us to work with health systems in new ways that build on a more integrated view of patient care to improve outcomes. By combining behavioral science with predictive analytics, we would aim to develop targeted interventions and intelligent coaching solutions that improve the quality and speed of recovery.”

As a first step, Johnson & Johnson envisions the launch of next-generation health and wellness coaching solutions centered on preoperative and postoperative patient care for joint replacement and spine surgeries. These mobile solutions would build on the Patient Athlete™ program, recently launched by the Depuy Synthesis Companies of Johnson & Johnson and the Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute, the industry leader in applying sport science principles and holistic energy management training to drive sustained behavior change.

These mobile solutions would draw on data, analytics and insights from the IBM Watson Health Cloud and Watson cognitive technology – including predictive analytics, machine learning, and health care provider connectivity — to improve clinical and financial results. The companies are also exploring ways to harness Watson Health’s diverse data sets to create new models that will better predict patient responses to various medical interventions.

“Healthcare providers and hospital systems are actively trying to make their approach to care more consumer-centric and to understand their patients in new ways,” said John E. Kelly III, IBM senior vice president, solutions portfolio and research. “Combining Watson’s deep cognitive insights with the consumer expertise and broad health care and life sciences portfolio of Johnson & Johnson, creates a unique combination that can help solve some of the world’s biggest health and wellness challenges.”

“We are enthusiastic about the potential of addressing some of health care’s most challenging issues by applying the key insights from the first phase of our collaboration to additional surgical areas and the management of chronic conditions,” said Len Greer, president of Johnson & Johnson Health and Wellness Solutions. “Combining our deep expertise in behavior modification – rooted in connecting behavior with individual purpose and motivation – with advanced technology, data analytics and digital coaching, we believe can create a differentiated, cost-effective and sustainable model of care that would be unprecedented in the industry.”

The companies intend to finalize the terms of a definitive agreement by the end of the second quarter.