Anthem plans health IT expansion with a new Atlanta hub

Anthem is set to expand its health IT footprint with a new technology center that aims to add 3,000 new IT professionals to its ranks.

The new building known as the Anthem Technology Center expands “Tech Square,” a multiblock portion of Midtown Atlanta that is already home to Anthem’s Innovation Studio, a handful of health IT startups and several Georgia Tech academic buildings.

RELATED: How Anthem is driving IT change with its Innovation Studio

Anthem revealed its health IT expansion efforts last week when it announced it was building a 352,000 square-foot facility beginning in January 2018. The project is slated for completion in 2020 and the company plans to add approximately 3,000 new employees to focus on “creating new capabilities” to enhance the consumer experience, improve quality care and lower health costs.

Jeff Fusile, president of Anthem’s affiliated Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plan in Georgia said the Anthem Technology Center’s Atlanta location would allow the company to “tap into the area’s highly skilled talent pipeline.”

RELATED: Humana CMO explains why the insurer sees itself as a data analytics company 'more than anything else'

Anthem’s Innovation Studio, which debuted last year, has focused on developing digital tools for both providers and enrollees by collaborating with the Georgia Institute of Technology as a research partner. The IT expansion comes at a time when insurers are looking for ways to use data analytics to improve care coordination and drive value-based care partnerships. 

Humana Chief Medical Officer Roy Beveridge, M.D., told FierceHealthcare earlier this year that he sees the insurer as an “IT company who is helping us with the data that we need in order to deal with our population health tools.” And CEO Bruce Broussard has emphasized the need to combine technology with human interventions to improve care.