Google to Access Health Data of Millions of Americans: Report

The health information would include “lab results, doctor diagnoses and hospitalisation records”.

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(Photo: AP)

According to reports, Google has signed a deal with a major US healthcare provider to access the sensitive data of millions of Americans across 21 states, Reuters reported.

Ascension, that reportedly operates approximately 150 hospitals and tens of senior citizens living facilities across the country, said it would provide “some data and analytics tools” to Google servers.

Quoting the Wall Street Journal, the Reuters report went on to state that the healthcare-related information would include “lab results, doctor diagnoses and hospitalisation records” along with what would encompass a total health history with names and birth information.

However, Google reportedly claimed in a blog post earlier this week that patients’ information would not be combined with the data of Google’s consumers.

According to the Reuters report, Tariq Shaukat, president for industry products and solutions at Google Cloud wrote that Ascension “are the stewards of the data, and we provide services on their behalf.”

In a statement to the press, Ascension reportedly claimed the new deal complied with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) which ‘safeguards medical information’. Ascension also claimed that it was keen on using artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure patient safety and clinical effectiveness.

Reuters reported that Chief Executive Officer of Google Cloud Thomas Kurien had prioritised business coming in from a few industries majorly, one of them being healthcare in the one year since he took office.

In the same blog post, Google claimed to be in “early testing” on how best to utilise the data provided by Ascension through the deal. Google Cloud has reportedly stated earlier that it planned to outperform its rivals using “a superior slate of high-margin AI tools”.

(With inputs from Reuters)