Vital Signs is our blog-in-a-blog on the Washington area's biotech and health care scene. By Kendra Marr Ever wonder who sorts through all the data that powers your all-knowing health insurance company? Samuel A. McKinney did. McKinney was surprised to find a concerned letter from Blue Cross Blue Shield in his mailbox wondering why he had stopped taking his medication: Immediately consult a physician about your medication if it's too expensive or causing side effects, the insurer advised. Trouble was, he had just filled the prescription. So, he called and discovered that Resolution Health, a Columbia-based health analytics firm, was helping insurers keep closer tabs their members. Armed with a massive databases -- medical and pharmacy claims, lab reports, provider reports and other statistics -- Resolution analyzes personal health information. More than 1,000 computer algorithms dissect the data for millions of members, scanning for ways to cut costs, eliminate conflicting ...
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