Datavant Expands Health Data Capabilities with DigitalOwl Acquisition

Datavant, a leading health technology company, has announced plans to acquire DigitalOwl, an Israeli startup specializing in AI-powered medical record analysis. This strategic move marks Datavant's third acquisition in recent months, following the purchases of Ontellus and Aetion.

Enhancing Health Records Retrieval and Analysis

The acquisition of DigitalOwl is set to bolster Datavant's capabilities in health records retrieval and data analysis, particularly for the insurance and legal industries. By integrating DigitalOwl's proprietary AI technology with Ontellus' existing services, Datavant aims to create an end-to-end data collaboration platform that streamlines the process of accessing and analyzing health data.

Kyle Armbrester, CEO of Datavant, emphasized the transformative potential of this acquisition, stating, "The insurance and legal market is poised for transformation, with customers looking for solutions that can simplify and improve the process of accessing and analyzing health data."

AI-Driven Improvements in Data Processing

DigitalOwl's AI engine will be incorporated into Datavant's broader platform, starting with Ontellus' medical records retrieval and claims intelligence services. This integration is expected to automate the traditionally manual process of organizing, summarizing, and extracting key information from medical records.

The combined offering promises significant benefits for legal and insurance professionals, including:

1. Faster and more reliable medical record retrieval and review processes
2. Streamlined summaries tailored to specific needs
3. Reduced manual effort and accelerated decision-making
4. Improved surfacing of critical insights

Armbrester highlighted the value of this integration, noting, "We're not only reducing administrative burden but also enabling underwriters, claims professionals and attorneys to focus on higher-value decision-making."

Expanding Reach and Future Applications

While the initial focus of the DigitalOwl acquisition is on the legal and insurance sectors, Datavant has plans to extend these data extraction and AI capabilities to other healthcare markets, including payers, providers, and life sciences.

The company's existing data exchange network already connects more than 80,000 hospitals and clinics, 75% of the 100 largest health systems, and over 350 real-world data partners. This extensive network facilitates the movement of more than 60 million healthcare records between thousands of organizations.

Datavant's ambitious growth strategy and continued investment in technology R&D position the company to address some of healthcare's most pressing challenges. As Armbrester explained, "We are investing heavily in technology R&D to bring structure to unstructured data, using privacy-aware strategies to securely connect and share data across thousands of sources, and building applications on top of that data to solve some of healthcare's toughest problems."