- IBM, UK Sign Public Cloud Agreement to Boost Essential Services
“This is a critical partnership for the healthcare industry and has the potential to dramatically transform the telehealth space through the use of modern cloud technologies," Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said in the announcement.
"We are thrilled that together we can bring groundbreaking digital health solutions to so many providers, patients, and health plans across the globe. Our joint work will drive innovation in health in a new and powerful way.”
Google Cloud will invest $100 million into Amwell to evolve and scale its telehealth portfolio to serve the needs of providers, insurers, and patients in current and new markets.
The global presence of Google Cloud will also allow the companies to expand access to virtual delivery into their mutual customer accounts.
Through the cloud platform, Amwell says it will migrate its video performance capabilities for both new and existing customers globally.
Both companies will leverage their individual strengths to boost telehealth experience, including focus on development work using Google Cloud, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
These tools will help patients and front-line workers with intake, inquiries, and triage, Google said.
G-Suite tools, such as Meet, will help collaboration between healthcare staff and their patients. While analytics tools will aid in remote monitoring by providers and insurers.
Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, underserved populations are overlooked. Google Cloud and Amwell aim to make the healthcare experience for these individuals much simpler and more accessible.
Specifically, the companies will look to enable providers to serve seniors and patients with chronic illnesses without compromising care quality or trust.
Google Cloud emphasized that any products or services that Google and Amwell use during their partnership will adhere to guidance regarding data access and usage. This includes any industry regulations regarding patient health information, such as HIPAA.
“We chose Google Cloud as our strategic partner because of their phenomenal people, superior products, and open approach to partnering,” said Ido Schoenberg, MD, chairman and CEO of Amwell.
"Together, we will be able to offer an incredible array of integrated capabilities and help millions of people around the world access better care. Our collaborative work could literally democratize healthcare.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, providers have turned to virtual telehealth as in-person meetings and appointments became a challenge.
At the end of March, Allscripts created a specialized telehealth implementation plan for clients to implement virtual visits between providers and patients through its EHR-agnostic patient engagement platform.
The platform, FollowMyHealth, will allow clients across the nation to sign up and deliver telehealth visit capabilities in a quick timeframe to their patients.
The implementation included a step-by-step client decision workbook, ten remote project hours for training, a specialized COVID-19 form, and alert verbiage for patient outreach, which allowed clients to be up and running in just a few days.
The solution follows CDC recommendations to reach patients before appointments and uncover alternatives to face-to-face visits.
“Because this unprecedented health crisis has deterred patients from seeing their providers, it’s never been more critical for healthcare organizations to utilize available telehealth capabilities,” Brad Holland, president and CEO of Hendrick Health System, said in the March announcement.
“With FollowMyHealth, we have been able to reach our patients while they remain safe in their homes. It’s a tool that has proven vital in our efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19.
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