What started as a pilot project for Tampa General Hospital has turned into a yearslong commitment — and a decision to strengthen technology.
Brian Hammond, TGH’s chief technology officer, began looking across the nation for advanced analytics programs in spring 2021. He came across Palantir, a Denver-based company that worked across 40 verticals, and the pair entered into a small pilot project that September.
Nearly a year later, that relationship was given the ultimate test: Hurricane Ian, which struck the state in September 2022.
The company aggregates data at a breakneck speed, allowing TGH to use artificial intelligence modeling to anticipate needs better. It can predict the length of a patient’s stay or the number of hospital beds needed on a given day — which all became particularly important as a hurricane threat loomed.
“We’re on an island, so we have to close [during a hurricane], and making sure we had the right coverage for the patients there was crucial,” Hammond said. “We were able to do what would’ve taken us a week within a day based on having that information aggregated.”
A week after the hurricane subsided, the entities officially entered into a full-fledged partnership.
“From our perspective, it’s what makes us most proud: When the software was needed most, you’re able to work with it versus working around it,” said Ted Mabrey, head of commercial at Palantir. “And TGH faces micro-hurricanes every day.”
TGH signed on for a three-year contract with Palantir, but Hammond said he expects to work with the tech company for years to come. No financial details were disclosed.
“We always time-box things, but this is someone we feel will be a partner for a long time,” he said.
This is not the first foray into artificial intelligence for the hospital. In April 2020, it worked with hospitals across the state to share data and fight Covid-19. And in November 2020, it launched an innovation-focused fund headed up by the former executive director of the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator.
The hospital’s analytics team alone has 24 employees, with the hope to hit roughly 40 people by 2024.
“We’re making an investment in Palantir but also the makeup of the analytics team,” Hammond said. “We’re here to leverage the investment, to grow and do some unique things in it. We’re looking at this as a foundation for us and our entire analytics program.”
The focus on tech is not necessarily unique to TGH — hospitals across the nation have begun to turn toward technology in an effort to keep patients happy and bottom lines low. But according to Palantir, which works with 100 entities across the nation, TGH does stand out.
“They’re ahead of the curve in the degree of accountability they put on their analytics to create real operational value,” Mabrey said. “There is a lot of spend on data and trying to get smarter. But with TGH, it’s to get better, not just smarter. And that’s where they’re ahead of the curve and setting the standard.”
