Thrive earlier detection test wins BCBS Data Innovation Challenge

Thrive Earlier Detection—developer of CancerSEEK, a liquid biopsy test that’s designed to detect many cancers at an earlier stage—has won the BlueCross BlueShield Data Innovation Challenge.

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Blue Health Intelligence chose Thrive from among some 130 submissions, for the company’s proposal to evaluate the health economic impact of earlier multi-cancer detection and for its plans to use data analysis to target populations for cancer detection.

As part of the win, Thrive will have six months to continue its analysis of BHI’s database of more than 5 billion covered procedures performed annually, originating from more than 170 million BCBS members.

Thrive says its mission is to save lives by making earlier detection of cancer a part of routine medical care, and it plans to leverage BHI’s dataset to gain further insights into the health and overall cost implications of earlier cancer detection.

The award “represents a significant opportunity to confirm that earlier detection of cancer can reduce costs and, more importantly, increase survival,” says David Daly, chief executive officer of Thrive. “The cancer care gap is enormous—with more than 1.7 million new cancer cases and 600,000 deaths due to cancer in 2019 alone, our team is passionate in our mission to reverse these tragically high numbers of cancer deaths.”

BCBSA and BHI launched the Data Innovation Challenge last April, with five finalists chosen in September, including Livongo, Pager, Wildflower Health and Workit Health, in addition to Thrive.

The finalists were given two months to test their hypotheses using a limited HIPAA-compliant dataset. In November, the finalists presented their findings to the Challenge’s selection committee.

“We know how critically important data is to improving our healthcare system and believe (Thrive’s) work will drive meaningful change in detecting cancer and lowering costs,” says Bob Kolodgy, executive vice president and chief financial officer for BCBSA and BHI board member.

BHI CEO Swati Abbott says it’s eager to continue working with Thrive as it dives deeper into BHI’s data. “By providing a complete view into a population’s healthcare journey, our partnership offers the chance to bring greater innovation to cancer care for all Americans,” Abbott says.

BCBSA and BHI collaborated with HIMSS and Healthbox, a HIMSS Innovation Company, to implement the BlueCross BlueShield Data Innovation Challenge.