BCBSNC Media Center

 

Business software giant SAS and the state’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, are teaming to harness the power of “big data” to develop more personalized care for patients.

The collaboration between the two heavyweights, which is being announced Thursday, is meant to create a new product that Cary-based SAS can market to health insurers nationwide. For Blue Cross, the goal is improving health care for its 3.6 million members, which would, in turn, reduce the health care costs they incur. Blue Cross also foresees crafting new products to fill market niches based on insights it hopes to derive from the partnership.

“Our work with SAS addresses an issue that’s at the crux of the health care challenges we face today: improving health in order to reduce costs for our customers,” said BCBSNC Chief Medical Officer Don Bradley. “Traditionally, we’ve based health plan designs and care management programs on conventional research. Now we can look through a new lens at readily available data to create health plans better targeted to consumers’ needs. And, more importantly, we can offer more personalized care management programs, which individuals are more likely to respond to – making it more likely that these efforts will improve their health.”