David Lazarus writes:
The future of the U.S. health care system will be influenced to a large extent by a company that makes weapons of war.
Defense giant Northrop Grumman has signed a nearly $92 million contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to build the second phase of a computer system that’s currently focused on reducing fraud but down the road will play a greater role in anticipating beneficiaries’ medical disorders.
It’s the most prominent example of how public and private insurers are spending millions of dollars on “big data” — using advanced technology to predict people’s future health care needs based on their interactions with doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, as well as information gleaned from other sources, such as social media.
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