San Diego-based Sharp HealthCare and Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based Sanford Health are the first two members of a consortium working with Dandelion Health Inc.’s integrated data platform to build artificial intelligence products.
Dandelion noted that AI holds promise to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes; however, many AI products are built on narrow data sets that do not represent the diversity of the U.S. population and its care practices. “Dandelion’s north star is to improve patient care via the widespread adoption of accurate, trustworthy and equitable AI in clinical practice. To do this, Dandelion is partnering with large health systems to safely and ethically make their de-identified clinical data available to AI developers in healthcare,” said Dandelion Co-Founder and CEO Elliott Green, in a statement.
The consortium is in discussions with additional health systems and hopes to ultimately reach a total of five large health system partners, representing rural and urban populations from different regions across the country.
One goal is that the platform will enable healthcare systems to be more involved in the development of AI products. “Sanford Health serves a diverse population across our 250,000 square-mile footprint, with two-thirds of our patients living in rural areas. It is vital that all patients, regardless of where they live, are included in the data as well as have access to modern healthcare,” said Kent Lehr, Sanford Health chief business development officer, in a statement. “We believe this collaboration with Dandelion and Sharp will strengthen the ways we are able to deliver care and improve lives.”
Sharp’s innovation program will be embodied in its Prebys Innovation & Education Center, which opens in 2023.
“We believe that Dandelion's vision to improve healthcare through partnering with local communities to build diversity into data science and provide leading-edge technologies will positively impact the San Diego community,” said Sharp’s senior vice president and chief information and innovation officer Michael Reagin, in a statement.
