- IBM has announced they will acquire Merger Healthcare for $1 billion
Armonk-based IBM said it will acquire Merge Healthcare Inc., a Chicago-based medical image handling and processing company, for $1 billion.
In a press release, IBM said it plans to combine Merge’s medical image technologies with its own Watson Health platform, a cloud-based health data storage and sharing system launched in April, to better diagnose and treat various health conditions. IBM also hopes to create a consolidated view of current and past health images, records and data from wearable devices and other medical data.
“As a proven leader in delivering health care solutions for over 20 years, Merge is a tremendous addition to the Watson Health platform,” said John Kelly, senior vice president, IBM Research and Solutions Portfolio. “Health care will be one of IBM’s biggest growth areas over the next 10Â years, which is why we are making a major investment to drive industry transformation and to facilitate a higher quality of care.”
Merge technology platforms are used at more than 7,500 U.S. health care sites. IBM researchers estimate that medical images account for at least 90 percent of all current medical data.
“Combining Merge’s leading medical imaging solutions with the world-class machine learning and analytics capabilities of IBM’s Watson health is the future of healthcare technology,” said Merge Chairman Michael W. Ferro Jr.
