The latest Watson for Oncology users include Icon Group in Australia, Grupo Angeles Servicios de Salud in Mexico, Mãe de Deus in Brazil, Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, Daegu Catholic University Medical Center in South Korea, Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in South Korea, Pusan National University Hospital in South Korea and Svet zdravia in Slovakia and Poland. IBM has also signed a new channel partnership with RITES Solutions to bring Watson for Oncology to hospitals in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Eastern India.

“Watson for Oncology is one example of the key technologies that will help clinicians harness the increasing amounts of data that is becoming available as both medicine and treatment become more personalized for each individual patient,” said Nan Chen, the Senior Director of Research & Development and Clinical Data at Bumrungrad International Hospital. “As we treat more than half a million from over 190 countries each year, these technologies are increasingly important to provide the level of care that our patients have come to expect. One example of this is at the BIH owned Mongolian UB Songdo Hospital where general doctors routinely care for cancer patients in the absence of clinical oncology specialists. These doctors can now confidently rely on Watson for Oncology for helping them select treatment options that are supported by the high concordance rates observed.”


Watson for Oncology is trained by oncologists at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and is a cognitive computing system that uses natural language processing to ingest patient data in structured and unstructured formats. The system provides physicians with treatment options for their consideration that are derived from established guidelines, the medical literature, and training from patient cases.

“Artificial Intelligence is coming of age in healthcare as technology suppliers, like IBM, make progress in the democratization of this technology,” said Cynthia Burghard, research director IDC Health Insights. “The application of AI will be a major disruptor in healthcare and move the industry closer to its goal of value-based health.”

In addition, at ASCO 2017 data will be presented from IBM Research and Truven Health Analytics®, part of the IBM Watson HealthTM business.


IBM Health Corps Tackles Chemo Supply Chain in Africa
IBM's oncology expertise was put to work recently for a pro bono IBM Health Corps consulting initiative to address chemotherapy shortages in sub Saharan Africa, helping health officials obtain more trusted medicine at lower costs. IBM's experts designed software called ChemoQuant, which will help planners and procurement personnel at ministries of health to make more precise chemotherapy forecasts, check medicine inventories, pinpoint available suppliers, determine costs, and place medicine orders that can qualify for volume pricing discounts.

Health IT Homepage