NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, will enhance the use of "big data" to improve healthcare under a collaborative agreement with Health Intelligence Company LLC (HIC), which operates as Blue Health Intelligence. Under this agreement, KPMG will leverage HIC's national database, which is the industry's largest and most comprehensive database of medical and prescription claims.
"Healthcare Convergence is causing many of our clients to re-evaluate strategies and operating models, which increasingly require insight from advanced data and analytics capabilities. This agreement establishes KPMG in a market leading position to help clients understand what works in healthcare," said Liam Walsh, U.S. Advisory Industry Leader, Healthcare & Life Sciences. "Healthcare is moving away from reimbursement under fee-for-service and placing more emphasis on patient outcomes and healthcare quality. The science is evolving quickly on how to measure quality and data and analytic tools do that to our clients' benefit."
Advances in computing power and new analytic tools make it possible to keep better track of the different variables involved in patient care, ranging from the patient's symptoms, what treatment was involved, the resources used, and whether the patient got better. KPMG said insights derived from the HIC database, as well as claims data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), have far-reaching implications regarding payer/provider collaboration, predictive analytics, healthcare population management, and monitoring the safety and efficacy of medical devices and medications. HIC's database covers the entire continuum of care, including spending, treatment, and outcomes from inpatient, outpatient, long-term care, and pharmacies.
In addition to KPMG's Healthcare & Life Sciences practice, the firm's Government practice and Data & Analytics group will leverage the HIC database to enhance services and offerings.
"Government agencies are acutely interested in using big data to find new and innovative ways to gain efficiencies, while improving quality within the healthcare delivery system and specifically the Medicaid program," said Paul Hencoski, U.S. lead partner for the Government Health & Human Services Practice. "The agreement with HIC will allow KPMG to offer advanced insights to our clients that will help them address these issues."
"We are very pleased to enter this collaborative agreement with KPMG," said Joe Bisson, Vice President at HIC. "The blend of our core assets with the breadth of deployment resources within KPMG will accelerate the impact our firms can have across the healthcare industry."
About Health Intelligence Company
Health Intelligence Company is the nation's premiere health intelligence resource, delivering data-driven insights about healthcare trends and best practices, resulting in healthier lives and more affordable access to safe and effective care. HIC accesses healthcare claims data from more than 140 million individuals nationwide, collected over nine years, in a safe, HIPAA compliant and secure database. The resulting conformed, reliable data set has the broadest, deepest pool of integrated medical and pharmacy claims, reflecting medical utilization in every ZIP code. Health Intelligence Company, LLC operates under the trade name Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) and is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit http://www.bluehealthintelligence.com/.
About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. KPMG International's independent member firms have 155,000 professionals, including more than 8,600 partners, in 155 countries.