Google has confirmed that it is working with one of the United States’ biggest healthcare systems, which allowed it access to a massive quantity of patient information.

Google has joined with Ascension, the biggest catholic health system in the world and the second biggest non-profit health system in the U.S.A. Ascension manages over 2,600 healthcare establishments in 21 states, which include more than 50 senior living facilities and 150 hospitals.

Through the collaboration, Google could access patient health information including names, birth dates, medical test results, diagnoses, treatment data, service dates, and other private and clinical data.

The project with code name Project Nightingale was kept a low profile until the Wall Street Journal report stated that around 150 Google employees allegedly had access to patient information because of the project. Patient data access was given without informing the patients or doctors. Google and Ascension announced Project Nightingale after the published WSJ story.

On November 11, Ascension stated in a press release that it is partnering with Google to enhance the health and wellness of people in communities, and give a complete portfolio of digital functions that could improve the healthcare experience of Ascension customers, patients and medical providers.

Google revealed in its statement that it had earlier talked about the venture in July 2019 in its second-quarter earnings call, where it mentioned that Google Cloud’s AI and ML solutions are assisting healthcare providers to better healthcare experience and outcomes.

Google mentioned in its November 11 blog post that its project with Ascension centered on

Changing Ascension’s infrastructure to the Google Cloud platform;
Assisting Ascension use G Suite productivity applications and;
Offering the tools to physicians and nurses to enhance care.

Google likewise mentioned that a few of the tools it is focusing on aren’t active yet in clinical advancement and are still in the beginning testing stage, consequently the Project Nightingale code name.

One more objective of the collaboration is using Google’s considerable computing capabilities to assess patient information and create software that controls its AI and machine learning technology to give more focused patient care.

Ascension stated it is going to explore artificial intelligence or machine learning apps that have the capability to improve patient safety, clinical quality and efficiency, and support for vulnerable populations, and also boost consumer and healthcare provider satisfaction.

As Ascension’s business associate, Google has affirmed that its access to patient information is legit and fully complies with the Health insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Rules. There is a signed BAA between Google and Ascension and required safety measures to secure patient information are in place, hence satisfying all HIPAA requirements.

Ascension additionally said that the collaboration is supported by strong data security and observance of Ascension’s rigid data handling requirements.