Technology Google's medical data project spurs HHS inquiry, report says

Google's partnership with Ascension, the second-largest healthcare system in the nation, over medical data has spurred a federal probe, according to a report Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal.

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The Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services is opening an inquiry into Project Nightingale, an initiative that collects patient information from millions of Americans. That includes data on lab results, diagnoses and hospitalization records, and also includes patient names and birthdates. The purpose of the project is reportedly to design health software that could home in on a patient's medical history.

Google healthcare data move makes some queasy

Google on Tuesday defended a project aimed at modernizing healthcare while giving it access to medical data of millions of people. Reports that Google was amassing medical data prompted a blog post by the Internet giant revealing a project code-named "Nightingale," evidently in tribute to Florence Nightingale whose nursing work during the Crimean War in the 1850s is credited with turning such work into a profession. The news also caused the USReports that Google was amassing medical data prompted a blog post by the Internet giant revealing a project code-named "Nightingale," evidently in tribute to Florence Nightingale whose nursing work during the Crimean War in the 1850s is credited with turning such work into a pr

OIG reports contain findings of its audits and evaluations, assess how well HHS programs and grantees/contractors are working, identify risks to the people they serve and to taxpayers, and recommend necessary improvements. OIG publications detail its activities and achievements, as well

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The US regulator "will seek to learn more information about this mass collection of individuals' medical records to ensure that HIPAA protections were fully implemented," office director Roger Severino told the Journal.

HHS and Google didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Ascension did not comment on the HHS inquiry. On Monday, though, Google and Ascension said the deal is compliant with HIPAA, the federal law regulating the security and privacy of certain medical information.

"To be clear: under this arrangement, Ascension's data cannot be used for any other purpose than for providing these services we're offering under the agreement," Tariq Shaukat, president of Google Cloud, said in a blog post. "And patient data cannot and will not be combined with any Google consumer data."

Google's "Project Nightingale" faces medical privacy inquiry

A federal agency wants more information about the "mass collection" of patients' medical data by the search giantAt the heart of the inquiry is concerns over patient privacy, with the joint project geared toward moving patient data to Google's cloud service and piloting new services that would allow Ascension medical staff to more quickly access data.

Your Medical Records. Employers and Health Information in the Workplace. The Privacy Rule gives you, with few exceptions, the right to inspect, review, and receive a copy of your medical records and billing records that are held by health plans and health care providers covered by the Privacy Rule.

Family planning medical services must be performed under the direction of a physician with special training or experience in family planning, and each family planning project must refer to other medical facilities when medically indicated, including in medical emergencies.

When it comes to collecting medical information, Google has drawn scrutiny in the past. Two years ago, Google, the University of Chicago and an affiliated medical center struck a partnership that allowed the search giant to use patient data and health records in an attempt to improve predictive analysis. In July, Google, the university and the medical center were hit with a lawsuit after the medical center allegedly shared records with Google without stripping away identifiable information.

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Google headquarters in Mountain View, California

The federal inquiry also comes as Google makes a bigger push into health care. Earlier this month, the search giant said it's buying Fitbit, a fitness tracker company, for $2.1 billion, signaling a deeper investment in health services.