The US Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has awarded Accenture a two-year consulting contract. The agreement will see Accenture produce a set of best practices regarding the use of patient-generated health data (PGHD) in healthcare.
That data could include treatment history, symptoms, lifestyle, and biometric data – information that Accenture has some experience handling, given its work developing biometric identity cards for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That work also demonstrates the company’s experience working with major government bodies, as do its efforts to improve IT infrastructure for eu-LISA; meanwhile, the company recently collaborated with the World Bank in an advisory role on identity management issues.
For the ONC, Accenture’s work will extend somewhat beyond consulting to include the coordination of pilot projects stemming from its recommendations, and those could even involve the collection of PGHD from wearables like smartwatches and fitness tracking devices.
Commenting on the contract in a statement, Mary Edwards, an Accenture executive affiliated with its public health arm, pointed to the opportunities that could arise from leveraging PGHD. “Not only can patient-generated health data offer an opportunity to capture needed information for use during care with potential cost savings and improvements in quality, care coordination, and patient safety but it can provide a more comprehensive picture of ongoing patient health,” she said.
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February 29, 2016 – by Alex Perala
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