Virginia Tech and science and technology solutions company Leidos have teamed up to collaborate on student-conducted scientific research into the big data challenges of today’s EHRs with the aim of optimizing healthcare delivery. Leidos and Virginia Tech will use technical data from hospitals and physician offices to establish methods to improve quality of care and reduce the cost of healthcare, particularly for hospitals. This partnership is expected to prepare the Virginia Tech students for professional careers in academia, industry or government.
“We’re at the frontier of putting clinical and claims data to use for better health outcomes and to improve financial performance,” said Julie Rosen, chief scientist for Leidos Health in a statement, who will serve as the technical advisor to Virginia Tech on the project. “The spiraling cost of health care in this country is unsustainable. Analysis of healthcare delivery data must be done throughout the country if we’re going to be able to bring costs back down and keep people healthy.”
As part of the joint research initiative, Leidos has made a financial commitment to Virginia Tech’s Center for Business Intelligence and Analytics in the Pamplin College of Business. The funds will be used to support the center and the Leidos Graduate Fellowship in Advanced Information Systems, which will help the center to recruit top graduate students to conduct research on healthcare issues.
The Center for Business Intelligence and Analytics, established in 2014, focuses on the mining of big data to make better, more-informed business decisions. The center’s work is cross disciplinary, with an emphasis on allowing students to conduct their own research.
Two fellows have already been named as part of the Leidos-sponsored program and Oldham said the center hopes to add more.
Zachary Davis, of Bremo Bluff, Virginia, is one of the Leidos fellows. Davis, a doctoral student studying business information technology, said he is excited to conduct his healthcare research. “The fellowship gives me the opportunity to speak with important individuals in the health care field,” he said. “With these contacts, I will be able to obtain the data necessary to solve real-world problems in the health care industry. Research interests of mine are: decreasing financial costs of hospitals through data analysis, improving the design of electronic health records and usability to create greater efficiencies, and furthering support for patients through the use of information technology.”
Junyan Wu, of Beijing, China, is one of the Leidos fellows. Wu, a doctoral student studying computer science, said he is honored to join the team and conduct his research. “Leidos gives me an opportunity to conduct research related to health information management and security,” Wu said. “Nowadays ‘big data’ provides an opportunity to optimize the management of electronic healthcare records and reduce security breaches that can jeopardize the quality of healthcare.”
