Tech Giants Pledge to Make Healthcare Data Easier to Access

Several tech giants have pledged to make patient and provider access to healthcare data online a lot easier, The Hill reports.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, and Salesforce at a Trump administration event focused on developing more healthcare apps said they would "share the common quest to unlock the potential in healthcare data, to deliver better outcomes at lower costs" in a letter issued by the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI).

"Together, we believe that a robust industry dialogue about healthcare interoperability needs will advance this cause, and hence are pleased to issue this joint statement."

Many electronic health records are not readily accessible or transferrable because they are held in different formats and standards, ITI president Dean Garfield told The Wall Street Journal during the Blue Button 2.0 Developer Conference.

"It can't flow fluidly," he added.

For Google, the goal is to allow seamless communication between providers, patients and other healthcare organizations through the use of cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.

"As patient expectations for seamless experiences have increased, so has our commitment to eliminating the technological barriers that make it challenging for providers to deliver connected care," Google said in a blog post Monday.

"This is about cloud infrastructure and platforms, building tools, and leveraging" data analytics, Gregory Moore, Google's vice president of healthcare, told the Journal.

The White House applauded the efforts.

"Today's announcements represent a watershed moment toward fostering more innovation in America's healthcare systems," White House senior advisor Matt Lira said in a statement to The Hill.

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