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IBM, ODH launch Mentrics, a cognitive platform for behavioral healthcare

Using Watson Health Cloud, the system will gather and aggregate health data from fragmented sources to generate cognitive insights that could optimize care for patients with mental health conditions.
Written by Natalie Gagliordi, Contributor

IBM's Watson Health unit announced the launch of Mentrics, a new platform aimed at improving behavioral healthcare. The launch is in partnership with health analytics provider ODH.

Mentrics is described as a population health management platform for use by managed care organizations that handle behavioral health benefits.

Using the Watson Health Cloud, the system will gather and aggregate health data from fragmented sources such as behavioral and physical medical services and prescription claims.

Ideally, the platform will generate cognitive insights into risk stratification that could eventually optimize care for patients with behavioral health conditions.

In a nod to its Watson Health Cloud, IBM said Mentrics' SaaS model will enable the integration of clinical, scientific, and exogenous data in structured and unstructured formats.

"One of the biggest gaps in our health system today is behavioral health care, and we are proud to be working with ODH to take on this tremendous challenge," said Lauren O'Donnell, VP of Life Sciences for IBM Watson Health. "Our goal with Mentrics is to make it easier for managed care organizations to achieve clinical and business goals in population health management while optimizing provider network performance so that patients don't fall through the cracks."

O'Donnell's mention of "population health management" echoes a recurring theme from IBM and its plans for Watson Health. As noted in a ZDNet profile of Watson Health, IBM is aiming to acquire enough data and technology to track health "from single-individual level to population level."

Much of the gathering is being done through acquisitions. IBM bought Truven Health Analytics in February in a deal valued at $2.6 billion. IBM's plan is to integrate Truven's data into its Watson Health Cloud to deliver what Big Blue calls "insights as a service."

IBM bought Phytel, Explorys and Merge Healthcare before Truven. So far, the Mentrics platform highlights an early adoption of Watson Health Cloud.

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