New York-based health system Northwell Health is partnering with Google Cloud to use cloud technology and artificial intelligence to automate administrative workflows and identify patient risk factors for early intervention.

The collaboration will use Google's tech for scheduling, automating contact with payers and creating summaries of patient medical information. It will also use machine learning to help predict future capacity as well as find risk factors among the patient population.

Additionally, Northwell plans to use Google's cloud platform as it modernizes its tech infrastructure, with the goal of building a data platform that can summarize patient information from different records to help clinicians make care decisions.

"Digital transformation is critical to our long-term goals of further advancing clinical excellence in our health system," Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling said in a statement. "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."

THE LARGER TREND

Northwell isn't new to digital health. In October, the health system announced a partnership with Aegis Ventures on a joint venture focused on the use of AI to address quality, equity and cost problems in healthcare.

In April, they launched Ascertain, a platform that aims to help health systems develop and commercialize AI companies. The new venture is starting with a tool that uses AI to predict the risk of developing pre-eclampsia, a potentially serious pregnancy complication. 

Northwell also has its own venture arm, which has invested in startups like virtual care platform Conversa and patient-engagement-focused Playback Health. 

Google is also no stranger to healthcare. One of its provider-facing initiatives is Care Studio, a tool that aims to organize patient medical records and surface relevant information. In March, it launched Conditions, a feature that summarizes patients' medical conditions and highlights missing data.

In 2019, news broke that Google had been working on a patient data project with health system Ascension, which raised privacy concerns. In a press release about its cloud partnership with Northwell, the companies said privacy and security "will be of the utmost importance."

ON THE RECORD

"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," Joe Miles, managing director, global healthcare and life sciences solutions for Google Cloud, said in a statement. "Northwell Health is taking the lead on innovation and interoperability to transform health and wellness for millions of New Yorkers."