Watson's next test: improving quality of healthcare

IBM officials believe that turning Watson's brainpower onto the medical system can reduce errors and improve the quality of care. Watson can store huge amounts of data ranging from patient health records to cutting-edge treatments. While a doctor may spend 10 hours a week reading the latest advances in medical journals; Watson can read 200 million pages of text in three seconds. IBM began working with managed care company WellPoint last year on a program to automatically pre-authorize certain medical procedures. WellPoint also is working on a Watson project with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to build decision-making tools for oncologists treating breast, colon and lung cancer.