Google partnership with Ascension to get access to data of millions of Americans. It is a part of a secret project “Nightingale” through which Google gets complete personal health information of Americans.
Ascension is the United States’ second-largest non-profit health system. it is noted in a press release of the Business Wire that in FY2019, Ascension provided $2 billion in care of persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs. Ascension includes approximately 156,000 associates and 34,000 aligned providers.
As per the report of the Wall Street Journal, Around 150 employees from Google obtained data of millions of Americans from 21 states including patient names, birth dates, hospitalization records, lab, and diagnosis reports, etc.
Google, in fact, will use the data to advance healthcare services in America by composing an AI-based Machine Learning model that can be helpful in saving lives and reducing costs.
By working in partnership with leading healthcare systems like Ascension, we hope to transform the delivery of healthcare through the power of the cloud, data analytics, machine learning, and modern productivity tools—ultimately improving outcomes, reducing costs, and saving lives.
Tariq Shaukat, President, Google Cloud
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) bounds the partnership not to use the data for other purposes to secure the privacy as the partnership offers patients data without notifying the concerned doctor. The law allows hospitals to share data with business partners without doctors’ agreement to advance healthcare facilities.
In terms of data handling, Ascension noted that “All work related to Ascension’s engagement with Google is HIPAA compliant and underpinned by a robust data security and protection effort and adherence to Ascension’s strict requirements for data handling.”
As the healthcare environment continues to rapidly evolve, we must transform to better meet the needs and expectations of those we serve as well as our own caregivers and healthcare providers.
Eduardo Conrado, Executive Vice President, Strategy and Innovations, Ascension
The collaboration will refurbish Ascension’s infrastructure as the things will shift to Google Cloud. Also, G Suite and its tool will be used to enhance the communication between Ascension Associates and the last but not the least, to improve the healthcare facilities by the use of Artificial Intelligence.
