CVS Health and IBM announced they are partnering to bring IBM's Watson technology to CVS Health pharmacists and practitioners in an effort to improve health care management for patients with chronic diseases, USA Today reports. 

Background on Watson Technology

IBM's Watson computing system can:

• Analyze large amounts of information;
• Develop knowledge over time; and
• Interpret and evaluate data.

In addition, Watson can access:

• Health records;
• Pharmacy information; and
• Other resources that allow CVS Health employees to help patients and work with primary care physicians.

Details of Project

For the collaboration, IBM and CVS will leverage IBM Watson Health in a way that lets providers and researchers use data and technology collected by the computing system to provide improved health care. The partnership also will use IBM Watson Health Cloud, which collects various data, including information on nutrition, medical history and lifestyle (Calfas, USA Today, 7/30).

Using the Watson technology, the companies aim to develop a system that can:

• Predict health declines for conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity;
• Prevent costly and unnecessary interventions; and
• Provide more personalized care.

CVS Health CMO Troynen Brennan said the first stage of the project will involve creating and testing algorithms to determine if they improve patient outcomes. He said he hoped to see "realistic interventions" in one to two years (Eunjung Cha, "To Your Health," Washington Post, 7/30).