Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Announces $15.6 Million Grant to Apply Power of the Archimedes Model to Critical Health Care...( Funding extends access to nation'...),Health

Funding extends access to nation's most accurate simulation model for predicting health care quality, safety and cost outcomes

PRINCETON, N.J., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced a five-year, $15.6 million grant to Archimedes, Inc., developer of a powerful, highly realistic simulation model of human physiology, diseases and health care systems. The Archimedes model enables health care organizations and policy leaders to determine reliably and quickly the health and economic outcomes of specific interventions and treatments for patients, providers and payers.

The grant is the largest one to date made by RWJF's Pioneer Portfolio, which supports innovative projects that may lead to important breakthroughs in the future of health and health care. Funding supports the creation of ARCHeS, (ARChimedes Health care Simulator), an online interface and delivery system that will enable many more health experts to use the Archimedes model to answer questions with greater speed and precision. Groups including the American Diabetes Association and the National Committee for Quality Assurance have used the model to forecast which treatment practices improve patient health, or where to target resources most cost-effectively to provide optimal patient care.

Archimedes co-founders Drs. David Eddy and Len Schlessinger created the mathematical simulation model because much of medical practice still relies on enlightened guesswork. Clinicians, researchers and health care organizations find it extremely difficult to answer with accuracy and reliability how treatment interventions may affect health outcomes for patients. Policy analysts, payers and large health programs like Medicare also struggle to compare and forecast the effects of different treatment guidelines on health care quality and spending. After years of testing and validation, Archimedes has emerged as the most comprehensive, realistic and d
'/>"/>