Interoperability remains a major problem when it comes to managing healthcare data. In some large hospitals, even the sharing of information between care teams is sometimes difficult because the EHR system used in one department may be different from the EHRs used in other departments.
To address these interoperability concerns, Google has launched a new Cloud Healthcare Application Programming Interface (API) that allows clients to absorb and manage multiple types of medical data on one platform. With this tool, unveiled at HIMSS 2018, clients can use that data for analytics and machine learning in the cloud.
As the new cloud-based API provides a scalable infrastructure solution, this may encourage healthcare organisations to undertake major digitalisation projects that involve multiple data types, says data and analytics company, GlobalData.
Designed to streamline digital transformations and improve health outcomes, the new API can provide healthcare organisations with faster access to analytics and other technologies they can use to process information more effectively and efficiently than they could in an analog environment, GlobalData explains.
The data company has added Google App Engine and Cloud Machine Learning Engine to its list of HIPAA-compliant Google Cloud Platform (GCP) services, which now includes over two dozen solutions.
According to Amy Larsen DeCarlo, Digital Industries Analyst at GlobalData: “Google is already actively engaged with many industry organisations, but this tool may help incentivise healthcare organisations to undergo major digitalisation projects that involve multiple data types, including Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), Health Level 7 (HL7) and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards."
Google has already made significant headway in the sector with an expanding customer list that includes The Cleveland Clinic, Rush Medical Center and the Chilean Health Ministry.
However, in a highly fragmented sector such as healthcare, the success of any API depends on how well it is designed and whether it is easy for healthcare organisations to use or not.
Source: Healthcare Innovation
Image Credit: Pixabay
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healthcare data, Google, interoperability, cloud API
Interoperability remains a major problem when it comes to managing healthcare data. In some large hospitals, even the sharing of information between care teams is sometimes difficult because the EHR system used in one department may be different from the