A 184-hospital system and American technology giant are joining forces to advance data analytics and support clinical decision-making.
Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare announced Wednesday that it is entering into a multi-year partnership with Google Cloud. Together, the organizations will create a data analytics platform for the health system and new workflow tools to support both clinical and non-clinical areas of operation.
To create these solutions, the provider will move a significant amount of its massive trove of patient data — extracted from the 32 million annual encounters across its hospitals — to the Google Cloud, said Harlow Sumerford, spokesperson for HCA Healthcare, in an email. Data use will be governed by privacy and security principles, including rules preventing Google Cloud from using identifiable information or accessing data without HCA’s permission.
Among the workflow tools developed will be analysis and alert solutions that help clinicians respond quickly to changes in a patient’s condition, said Chris Sakalosky, managing director of U.S. Healthcare & Life Science at Google Cloud, in an email.
The companies will also work on creating “next-generation operational models,” which will span both clinical and non-clinical areas, like supply chain, human resources and physical plant operations, and may benefit from improved workflows through better use of data, Sakalosky said.
“Next-generation care demands data science-informed decision support so we can more sharply focus on safe, efficient and effective patient care,” said Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare, in a news release. “We view partnerships with leading organizations, like Google Cloud, that share our passion for innovation and continual improvement as foundational to our efforts.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The partnership will leverage several of Google Cloud’s healthcare data offerings, including the Google Cloud Healthcare API and BigQuery, a database with full support for Health Level Seven International Version 2 and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources Version 4 data standards, as well as HIPAA compliance.
For Google, the new partnership is in line with its broader effort to collaborate with prominent healthcare providers and payers. In recent years, Google has struck partnerships with the likes of Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic, St. Louis-based Ascension and Pittsburgh-based Highmark.
But Google isn’t just looking to solidify its standing in healthcare via provider collaborations. The company recently unveiled its first patient-facing healthcare tool: a dermatology symptom-checker.
Photo: Gerasimov174, Getty Images
