Google's Health Care Ambitions Now Involve Patient Data

Google announced a partnership with a large U.S. health care system aimed at modernizing its information system and providing new tools for doctors, in the tech giant’s latest foray into the health industry.

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Announcement of its arrangement with the Catholic health care system Ascension followed a Wall Street Journal report that Google had access to thousands of patient health records without doctors’ knowledge.

Both companies stressed that their deal is compliant with federal health-privacy law. Unlike most of the data Google collects on individuals, health data is strictly regulated by the federal government.

Google is providing cloud computing services to Ascension, which operates health centers in 21 states, mostly across the South and Midwest. It is also testing the use of artificial intelligence to examine health records and find patterns that Google says might help doctors and other providers.