Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1383677
56 INNOVATION Google, HCA partner for health algorithms: 7 things to know By Jackie Drees H CA Healthcare inked a multi-year collaboration with Google Cloud focused on building a health data analytics platform to sup- port the Nashville, Tenn.-based system's clinical and operational workflows, the organizations announced May 26. Seven things to know: 1. Under the partnership, HCA will use Google Cloud's healthcare data offerings, including the Google Cloud Healthcare application program- ming interface and BigQuery, a database that supports healthcare dating sharing standards Health Level Seven and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources. 2. e data platform will provide HCA physicians, nurses and nonclinical staff with workflow tools, analysis and alerts that can help with monitoring patients and guiding treatments. 3. e partnership also will focus on getting improved data and insights for nonclinical areas within the health system, such as supply chain, hu- man resources and physical plant operations. 4. Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare, said the partnership will build on the health system's digital transformation efforts: "Next-generation care demands data science-informed decision support so we can more sharply focus on safe, efficient and effective patient care. We view partnerships with leading organizations, like Google Cloud, that share our passion for innovation and continual improvement as foundational to our efforts." 5. HCA and Google Cloud emphasized the importance of privacy and security as guiding principles throughout their partnership, according to the news release. Access and use of patient data will be addressed through Google Cloud's infrastructure alongside HCA's security controls and pro- cesses. 6. HCA patient records would be stripped of identifying information be- fore being shared with Google's data scientists, and the health system will have control of access to the data, HCA Healthcare CMO Jonathan Perlin, MD, said in a May 26 Wall Street Journal report. 7. HCA will use information from its 32 million annual patient encoun- ters to pinpoint areas where clinical care can be improved. While Google will require consent from HCA to access data when needed, the tech giant can develop analytical tools without patient records and let HCA test the models independently, Google Cloud healthcare and life sciences manag- er Chris Sakalosky told the Journal. "We want to push the boundaries of what the clinician can do in real time with data," he said. n Cleveland Clinic names new head of innovation arm: 5 things to know By Jackie Drees C leveland Clinic Innovations named D. Geoffrey Vince, Ph.D., its executive director, a newly created role, the health system said May 26. Five things to know: 1. As executive director, Dr. Vince will oversee the combina- tion of Cleveland Clinic's technology development strategies with scientific and research priorities to support discoveries of new medical treatments and drugs. 2. Dr. Vince has been chair of the biomedical engineering de- partment within Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute for 10 years. He also served as principal investigator on Cleve- land Clinic's National Center for Accelerated Innovations. 3. As an inventor, Dr. Vince holds 12 patents and several U.S. Department of Defense grants for his research laboratory. His virtual histology technology was licensed by Volcano Corp., which Philips later acquired. 4. Founded in 2000, Cleveland Clinic Innovations has helped launch more than 80 startup companies. The health system's commercialization arm works with early-stage companies and inventors to turn medical breakthrough interventions into products to benefit patients. 5. Dr. Vince's appointment as executive director is a "key part" of Cleveland Clinic Innovations' new global strategy for research and innovations, Cleveland Clinic Chief Re- search and Academic Officer Serpil Erzurum, MD, said in the news release. "His visionary leadership style and wealth of experience in healthcare and industry make him the ideal person to lead Cleveland Clinic Innovations and its critical work to market the breakthrough inventions of our caregivers into new med- ical products and companies that benefit our patients," Dr. Erzurum said of Dr. Vince. n