Today at HLTH ’23, Google Cloud made a groundbreaking announcement, introducing Vertex AI Search features specifically tailored for healthcare and life sciences organizations.
This innovation incorporates medically-tuned generative AI (gen AI) to enhance data search across a diverse range of sources, including clinical databases like FHIR data and clinical notes. Integrated with Google Cloud’s Healthcare API, Healthcare Data Engine, and leveraging Google Health’s intelligent summarization capabilities from Care Studio, this advancement promises to significantly impact the healthcare industry.
Healthcare and life sciences organizations can now sign up for early access to explore and provide feedback on the new Vertex AI Search features, designed to address pressing challenges within the healthcare sector, such as workforce shortages, provider burnout, and administrative burdens. Administrative costs surged by 30 percent in 2022, reaching an annual figure of $60 billion (CAQH), emphasizing the critical need for streamlined solutions.
The projected shortage of over 3.2 million frontline healthcare workers within the next five years in the United States underlines the urgency for transformative technologies like Vertex AI Search. These innovations are envisioned to mitigate administrative burdens and serve as assistive technologies for clinicians and healthcare professionals.
Burak Gokturk, VP and General Manager of Cloud AI and Industry Solutions for Google Cloud, expressed the potential of bringing Google-quality gen AI search capabilities to an organization’s entire ecosystem, including Electronic Health Records (EHRs). He highlighted the far-reaching impact on efficiency, clinical decision support, and overall healthcare quality.
The new Vertex AI Search features expand upon the platform’s existing capabilities, enabling users to set up question-answering and conversational search applications powered by foundational models. Additionally, the features empower users to find accurate clinical information efficiently and inquire about patient records.
Google Cloud emphasizes data security and compliance, especially in healthcare settings, ensuring that patient data is protected and HIPAA compliant.
Vish Anantraman, CTO for Mayo Clinic, acknowledged the potential of this new search functionality to unlock critical medical knowledge stored in unstructured documents, supporting a wide range of healthcare applications.
Mayo Clinic, Hackensack Meridian Health, and other industry leaders also expressed their enthusiasm for implementing gen AI for search capabilities, highlighting its potential to enhance information delivery to clinicians and optimize healthcare modernization efforts.
With the integration of Vertex AI Search features for healthcare and life sciences alongside Med-PaLM 2, Google’s medically-tuned large language model, healthcare organizations can access the most relevant answers to complex medical queries, both from global knowledge and within the patient’s medical record. This integration promises faster, more informed decision-making, ultimately improving patient care.
Google Cloud’s commitment to providing transformative AI-driven solutions for healthcare and life sciences underlines its dedication to revolutionize the industry, optimize data usage, and enhance healthcare outcomes.
