CARY, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dr. Graham Hughes, MD, recently an executive with GE Healthcare, has been chosen Chief Medical Officer for the SAS Center for Health Analytics and Insights (CHAI). Hughes brings more than 20 years’ experience in health care informatics clinical product strategy to the CHAI think tank founded by SAS, the leader in health analytics software and services.
"We were looking for something very specific in our first Chief Medical Officer," said Jason Burke, CHAI's Managing Director. "We sought leadership, practical experience and, of course, a passionate belief in the opportunity for advanced analytics to improve medical care. Health analytics offer a tremendous promise to patients for better health outcomes at lower costs. I look forward to Graham's entrepreneurial leadership in helping deliver on that promise."
Hughes’ mission is to develop an enhanced health analytics strategy for SAS. In addition to identifying trends and creating a clear vision for the team, Hughes will deepen customer, partner and collaborative relationships, especially those related to novel applications of advanced clinical/patient analytics. He also will serve as SAS’ clinical representative and advocate for health care issues for both providers and payers.
“SAS has a rich history of applying advanced analytic solutions to the world’s complex business problems,” said Hughes. “Now, we’re turning the power of advanced analytics on a health care system undergoing the most significant transformation in living memory."
The progressive adoption of electronic information systems across the health ecosystem increases opportunities to apply the power of software to improve care delivery. "Electronic health records provide a rich store of clinically relevant data to supplement readily available financial information,” said Hughes. “This represents a new frontier in health care: comparing alternative treatments and care delivery models; identifying opportunities to speed and improve medical research; enhancing our understanding of drug treatments; and reducing waste and duplicative care. With advanced analytics, organizations can start to identify meaningful, sustainable operational performance improvements at all levels."
The opportunity far exceeds understanding historical trends. "Not only can we can understand today’s performance better than ever, but we also can use predictive analytics to help organizations peek into the future. We can play a role in creating a sustainable health care delivery system, while at the same providing more personalized and effective care for all health care consumers," Hughes added.
SAS in Health Analytics
SAS is the industry leader in health analytics software and services, delivering best-in-class solutions for improving medical care, strengthening financial performance, deepening customer relationships, and pursuing medical innovations. All of the top 25 health plans and pharmaceutical companies depend on SAS for strategic insights into health outcomes, profitability, and customer preferences and behaviors that produce useful intelligence for business transformation and growth. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, Healthways and McKesson are among the leading health care companies that use SAS. Please visit the SAS® for Health Care Providers and SAS® for Health Insurance websites for more information.
About SAS
SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 50,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world THE POWER TO KNOW®. SAS and all other SAS Institute Inc. product or service names are registered trademarks or trademarks of SAS Institute Inc. in the USA and other countries. ® indicates USA registration. Other brand and product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Copyright © 2011 SAS Institute Inc. All rights reserved.
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