The collaborations will focus initially on using AI to improve the utility of electronic health records and claims data to address public health issues such as patient safety, precision medicine, and health equity, according to the firm. Researchers will also investigate the user experiences and interactions of physicians and patients with AI technologies, IBM said.

The vendor said the initiative will be a joint effort among Dr. Gretchen Purcell Jackson, PhD, president and chief science officer at IBM Watson Health; Dr. David Bates, chief of general internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital; Dr. Kevin Johnson, chair of biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center; and Dr. Gordon Bernard, executive vice president for research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.