Google, Northwell Health Partner to Boost Patient Care, Clinician Experience

Google Cloud and New York-based Northwell Health announced a collaboration to accelerate the health system’s digital transformation using cloud technology and artificial intelligence (AI), with the aim of improving patient care, clinician experience, and operational efficiency.

Under the partnership, Northwell Health will implement Google Cloud in its facilities to enhance experiences in digital scheduling, automate payer interactions and provide intelligent summarizations of medical information. The health system will also leverage Google’s AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities to generate predictive insights, which will help with capacity planning and scheduling, along with identifying risk indicators to boost early interventions, according to the press release.

"Digital transformation is critical to our long-term goals of further advancing clinical excellence in our health system," said Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, in the press release. "This partnership will help us deliver personalized experiences by safely and privately harnessing customers' data to enhance care, well-being, and equity in care for our patients."

In addition to optimizing its current processes, the health system plans to utilize Google Cloud for infrastructure modernization. Northwell Health will begin by building an interoperable data platform with AI and ML capabilities, which will include contextual recommendations to provide nurses and clinicians with decision-making support that goes beyond summarizing the information from different EHRs. In doing so, the platform may help bring together disparate information sources, supporting more accurate, timely interventions.

"People want the same kind of seamless experiences and access to their healthcare that they have in other areas of their life, and healthcare providers need to meet these demands while also running the organization more efficiently," said Joe Miles, managing director, Global Healthcare & Life Sciences Solutions for Google Cloud, in the press release. "Northwell Health is taking the lead on innovation and interoperability to transform health and wellness for millions of New Yorkers."

Throughout Northwell Health’s digital transformation journey, Google and the health system will work together to implement and maintain necessary privacy and security protocols to protect patient data, according to the press release.

This partnership is one of several that Google has undertaken to improve healthcare delivery in recent years.

In 2019, the tech giant announced a collaboration with Mayo Clinic to leverage healthcare cloud computing, data analytics, ML, and AI to improve care delivery. Through the partnership, Mayo Clinic is set to advance its virtual care and medical research capabilities using AI-enabled digital diagnostics and other Google technologies.

Google took steps to enhance the long-term partnership in February 2021 when it announced a new office in Rochester, Minnesota, designed to provide a physical space for Google and Mayo Clinic teams to work together in real-time to improve patient care.