According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, Google has gained access to millions of US patient data without those patients knowing or being able to opt-out.
The partnership with Ascension, one of the US largest health systems used by 2,600 hospitals, has provided access to millions of health records.
Termed Project Nightingale, it means over the past year data has been collected and Google said it will use the information to help develop software to predict or identify medical conditions.
Google and Ascension say they are fully protecting patient privacy. In a blog post Google said: “There’s been a good deal of speculation on this partnership, so we want to make sure everyone has the facts.”
“First: What is the work we’re doing with Ascension? Back in July, on our Q2 earnings call, we announced “Google Cloud’s AI and ML solutions are helping healthcare organisations like Ascension improve the healthcare experience and outcomes.” Our work with Ascension is exactly that—a business arrangement to help a provider with the latest technology, similar to the work we do with dozens of other healthcare providers. These organisations, like Ascension, use Google to securely manage their patient data, under strict privacy and security standards. They are the stewards of the data, and we provide services on their behalf.”
“Our work with Ascension focuses on three things:
- Shifting Ascension’s infrastructure to the cloud: The partnership will modernise Ascension’s infrastructure, enabling them to migrate their on-premise data warehouse and analytics environments to their own private and secure Google Cloud environment. Key elements of this work will focus on network and system connectivity, data integration, privacy and security, and compliance.
- Using G Suite productivity tools: This will enhance Ascension employees’ ability to communicate and collaborate securely in real time, supporting interdisciplinary care and operations teams across Ascension sites of care.
- Extending tools to doctors and nurses to improve care: We aim to provide tools that Ascension could use to support improvements in clinical quality and patient safety.”
