BlackBerry invests in NantHealth for integrated end-to-end healthcare solutions

BlackBerry Ltd., Waterloo ON, announced its investment in healthcare IT leader NantHealth, a cloud-based medical IT provider specializing in the delivery of healthcare for payers, providers and patients through real-time connectivity, high performance computing and 21st century decision support.

The companies intend to collaborate on the development of HIPAA and other government privacy certified, integrated clinical systems that transform the delivery of medical care.

“This investment and planned collaboration aligns with the reliability, security and versatility of BlackBerry’s end-to-end solutions – from the embedded QNX operating system powering complex medical devices, to secure cloud-based networks, to instantaneous information sharing over BBM Protected,” says BlackBerry CEO and executive chair, John Chen. “NantHealth is a proven innovator in developing leading platforms that allow medical professionals to share information and deliver care efficiently. BlackBerry’s capabilities align closely with NantHealth’s and this investment represents the type of forward-looking opportunities that are vital to our future.”

Founded by medical entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, NantHealth works to transform clinical delivery with actionable clinical intelligence at the moment of decision, enabling clinical discovery through real-time machine learning systems. The company’s technology empowers physicians, patients, payers and researchers to transcend the traditional barriers of today’s healthcare system. The NantHealth platform is installed at approximately 250 hospitals, and connects more than 16,000 medical devices collecting more than 3 billion vital signs annually.

“BlackBerry’s expertise is incredibly valuable to NantHealth as we expand our platform and make it available for wider deployment through a secure mobile device,” adds Soon-Shiong, NantHealth’s founder and a pioneer of pharmaceutical treatments for both diabetes and cancer. “The future of the healthcare industry requires the ability to share information securely and quickly, whether device-to-device or doctor-to-doctor anywhere and at any time. The potential to integrate BlackBerry’s secure mobile communications, along with the company’s QNX embedded technology, will put the power of a supercomputer in the palm of the caregiver’s hand. Providing actionable information at the time of need will significantly improve the efficiency of healthcare and, more importantly, the efficacy of care for the patient.”

Details of the intended collaboration are being developed, but Chen and Soon-Shiong says they see significant opportunities because: QNX is established as a real-time embedded operating system for mission-critical medical diagnostic and monitoring devices in hospitals and homecare environments; BBM Protected is an upcoming, secure communication platform that could connect healthcare providers, field service workers, emergency personnel, patients and family members; NantHealth’s Clinical Operating System (cOS) platform is the first operating system of its kind in healthcare.

The platform integrates the knowledge base with the delivery system and the payment system, enabling 21st century coordinated care at a lower cost; NantHealth and BlackBerry can combine secure cloud-based and supercomputing services to provide data integration, decision support and analytics; and BlackBerry’s devices are the global standard for secure communication and collaboration.

“The future of BlackBerry lies in creative opportunities like this that take our many core disciplines and combine them in ways no one else can match,” Chen adds. “Healthcare is one of the key industries in which we have unique advantages and this investment reflects our commitment to maximize our opportunities there.”