BlackBerry goes into healthcare?

NantHealth is a cloud-based medical IT provider transforming the delivery of healthcare for payers, providers and patients through real-time connectivity, high performance computing and 21st century decision support. “This investment and planned collaboration aligns with the reliability, security and versatility of BlackBerry’s end-to-end solutions – from the embedded QNX® operating system powering complex medical devices, to secure cloud-based networks, to instantaneous information sharing over BBM Protected,” said BlackBerry CEO and Executive Chair, John Chen. “NantHealth is a proven innovator in developing leading platforms that allow medical professionals to share information and deliver care efficiently. BlackBerry’s capabilities align closely with NantHealth’s and this investment represents the type of forward-looking opportunities that are vital to our future.” “BlackBerry’s expertise is incredibly valuable to NantHealth as we expand our platform and make it available for wider deployment through a secure mobile device,” said Soon-Shiong, NantHealth’s founder and a pioneer of pharmaceutical treatments for both diabetes and cancer. “The future of the healthcare industry requires the ability to share information securely and quickly, whether device-to-device or doctor-to-doctor anywhere and at any time. The potential to integrate BlackBerry's secure mobile communications, along with the company’s QNX embedded technology, will put the power of a supercomputer in the palm of the caregiver's hand. Providing actionable information at the time of need will significantly improve the efficiency of healthcare and, more importantly, the efficacy of care for the patient.” Details of the intended collaboration are being developed. “The future of BlackBerry lies in creative opportunities like this that take our many core disciplines and combine them in ways no one else can match,” said Chen. “Healthcare is one of the key industries in which we have unique advantages and this investment reflects our commitment to maximize our opportunities there.”