VA recruits IBM's Watson to aid doctors

The Department of Veterans Affairs is enlisting Big Blue and its computing tech Watson to aid physicians caring for veterans.

On Monday, IBM and the VA announced primary care physicians working for the agency will use Watson to track the growing amount of medical data. The VA will also use Watson to help treat veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

"There's no more important challenge than improving healthcare for our veterans and we've seen how Watson can assist medical professionals and make it easier for them to capture insight from so many sources and make more informed decisions," said Anne Altman, General Manager for U.S. Federal at IBM, in a statement.

As many as 20% of veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD, according to the VA's National Center for PTSD.

The VA will use several tools related to Watson, including a Discovery Advisor to quickly process data and research to uncover patterns. Watson will also help navigate and organize electronic medical records (EMRs), combining patient data with medical articles and research.

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