New York-based IBM today announced plans to acquire Ann Arbor-based Truven Health Analytics, a provider of cloud-based health-care data, analytics, and insights for $2.6 billion. The deal is expected to close later this year.
“Truven’s impressive team, extensive client roster, and expansive data sets complement IBM Watson Health’s broad-based team, capabilities, and offerings,” says Deborah DiSanzo, general manager for IBM Watson Health.
DiSanzo says Truven will bring more than 8,500 clients, including U.S. federal and state government agencies, employers, health plans, hospitals, clinicians, and life sciences companies to the IBM Watson Health portfolio.
She says upon completion of the acquisition, IBM’s health cloud will house health-related data representing about 300 million patient lives.
“The Truven Health Analytics team is eager to combine our capabilities and expertise with the Watson Health portfolio,” says Mike Boswood, president and CEO of Truven Health Analytics. “This will help catapult the industry forward to transform healthcare and to save and improve lives.”
IBM Watson Health will have more than 5,000 employees upon completion of the acquisition, including clinicians, statisticians, healthcare administrators, and policy experts. Truven Health Analytics represents IBM’s fourth health-data related acquisition since launching the Watson Health unit in April 2015.
IBM Watson Health offers a system, delivered through the cloud, that analyzes high volumes of data, understands complex questions, and proposes evidence-based answers. Truven Health Analytics, founded 40 years ago, owns brands such as MarketScan, 100 Top Hospitals, and Advantage Suite, among others.
