Google has quietly launched a project with one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems in which it has gained access to millions of patient records, including names and birth dates, to help deliver more targeted medical treatment.
The initiative, dubbed “Project Nightingale,” gives the tech giant the ability to analyze personal health information compiled by Ascension, a Catholic hospital system that operates in 21 states. It appears to be unusual in that it grants such a large amount of patient data to a third-party technology company without the knowledge of doctors or patients.
Ascension released a statement Monday after details of the partnership were disclosed by the Wall Street Journal. The hospital system said its work with Google (GOOGL) is “HIPAA compliant and underpinned by a robust data security and protection effort and adherence to Ascension’s strict requirements for data handling.”
In recent years, hospitals nationwide have begun entering into contracts with large technology companies to store patient information in their clouds, where it can be analyzed using machine learning tools to help providers gain insight into patients’ health needs and zero in on the most effective treatments for specific conditions. Earlier this year, Mayo Clinic inked a sweeping 10-year partnership with Google to store its data in the company’s cloud and use its tools to analyze clinical information, although it emphasized any patient data shared with Google would be de-identified.
Deciding whether and how to disclose those arrangements to patients, doctors, and the broader public can be tricky for hospitals, because of concerns about their ability to safeguard personal health information. Many hospital information specialists have cited the enhanced security capabilities of large technology companies, along with their artificial intelligence expertise, to justify such arrangements.
Ascension said its work with Google involves transferring data to the company’s cloud, deploying its G Suite product for collaboration between caregivers and the use of machine learning tools to generate insights that may improve the quality of care, provider satisfaction, and patient safety.
Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal reported that as many as 150 Google employees already have access to data on tens of millions of patients, and that some Ascension employees have raised questions about the manner in which patient information is being collected and shared.
The president of Google Cloud, Tariq Shaukat, said in a statement: “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.”
