many times patients complain that doctors order more tests or perform more expensive procedures than required. Now sophisticated new computer models will enable millions of patients to analyse their medical records and help them determine the cheapest and the most effective way of treatment. The largest us hospital company, Columbia/ hca health care Corp is paying us $1.12 billion for Value Health Inc whose Value Health Sciences data unit analyses prescription and hospital data.
Drug companies also are paying big money for the information because they need to know how their drugs are used in a managed-care setting -- and whether they are more cost-effective than the drugs made by the rivals. Value Health Sciences are owned by prescription-benefit companies which give them access to millions of records showing how drugs are prescribed and used. Then they run this mass of data through software programmes that help sort it into identifiable categories, such as the total annual cost of treating a patient with diabetes the average number of tests ordered during a routine pregnancy.
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