Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1476979
77 CIO / HEALTH IT Northwell Health opts for Google Cloud By Giles Bruce N ew Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has selected Google as its preferred cloud provider to expand its digital and artificial intelligence capabilities. e health system, the state's largest, said the collaboration will allow it to provide more efficient, equitable care. rough AI and machine learning, the enhancements will include predictive clinical insights, digital scheduling, automated payer interactions and intel- ligent visit summaries. "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 July 13 news release from the two companies. "is partnership will help us deliver per- sonalized experiences by safely and privately harnessing customers' data to enhance care, well-being and equity in care for our patients." e companies say data privacy and cybersecurity will be front and center throughout the cloud migration and will be bolstered by the meshing of Google Cloud's infrastructure and Northwell Health's lay- ers of privacy and security controls. "People want the same kind of seamless experiences and access to their healthcare that they have in other areas of their life, and health- care providers need to meet these demands while also running the organization more efficiently," stated Joe Miles, managing director of global healthcare and life sciences solutions for Google Cloud. "Northwell Health is taking the lead on innovation and interoperabil- ity to transform health and wellness for millions of New Yorkers." n UPMC opts for Microsoft to modernize clinical analytics By Naomi Diaz U PMC partnered with Microsoft to modernize and expand its analytics platform. Microsoft will provide its computing, AI and ma- chine learning tools to the UPMC clinical analytics team, according to a July 20 press release. The aim is to help the clinical analytics team mine more than 13 petabytes of structured clinical data and 18 petabytes of imaging data to create new insights that improve patient care. "We're on a quest to become a true data-driven orga- nization, a 'learning health system,'" said Oscar Marro- quin, MD, chief health care data and analytics officer. "We can do this only if analytics are embedded in ev- erything that we do — from the executive suite to our clinicians at the bedside." UPMC says the agreement with Microsoft will not only modernize its analytics platform, but will also better sup- port expansion and innovation in its health plan and other divisions. n Ransomware attack on finance company affects 600 hospitals, practices By Naomi Diaz M ore than 600 healthcare organizations have been affected by a February data breach on ac- counts receivable management company Pro- fessional Finance Company's network. On February 26, Professional Finance Company, which provides services to healthcare organizations, learned that an unauthorized party had accessed personal infor- mation stored on its system. Patient information obtained in the Professional Finance Company breach includes first and last names, address- es, accounts receivable balances, and information re- garding payments made to accounts. In some cases, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, health insurance information and medical treatment information were compromised. Some of the hospitals possibly affected include: Banner Fort Collins (Colo.) Medical Center Dover, Del.-based BayHealth Hospital Maryville, Tenn.-based Blount Memorial Hospital Carson City, Nev.-based Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. n