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It was an expensive gamble. IBM spent billions acquiring a trio of companies with vast stores of patient health data, in the hope that its vaunted Watson supercomputer could mine that information for business and clinical insights to sell to U.S. hospitals. But it hasn’t worked out that way.

IBM laid off Watson Health employees across the country last month who were tasked with turning that bold ambition into new revenue for the technology giant.

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Layoffs are typical after a spate of acquisitions, but STAT interviews with former IBM employees suggest that Watson Health is grappling with a deeper problem — that the company has struggled to turn its new trove of patient data into workable products, and that instead of attracting a wave of new hospital clients, Watson Health is starting to shed business.

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