Google Cloud this week announced next steps in its longstanding collaboration with Mayo Clinic, focused on new innovations for generative AI.

WHY IT MATTERS
Mayo Clinic is an early adopter of the Enterprise Search capability in Google's Generative AI App Builder. It will now be exploring how the combination of search with generative AI can surface important information for its clinicians and staff – and do so faster, more seamlessly and in a more conversational way.

Google Cloud noted that the search tool is now able to support HIPAA compliance, which would open up new use cases for data from key new sources – such as electronic health records – in addition to research papers, clinical guidelines and more.

Enterprise Search in Gen App Builder helps health systems such as Mayo Clinic unify data across dispersed documents, databases and intranets, enabling easier search, analysis and identification of the most relevant results – and allowing for better diagnosis and treatment.

"In our conversations with customers, few generative AI use cases have driven as much enthusiasm as generative search," said Kalyan Pamarthy, product lead for enterprise search at Google, in a blog post. "Leaders at enterprises know the limits of traditional enterprise search, with queries producing a list of links based on pattern matching, and significant manual investigation required to find the more relevant answers.

"In generative AI, these leaders see an opportunity to leverage their data more effectively and deeply, including applying it to conversational apps that can answer complex questions, produce accurate summaries that synthesize many sources, and help people get the information they need, faster," he added.

Other Google Cloud tools will also be fine-tuned at Mayo Clinic, such as Generative AI support in Vertex AI, which can help health systems improve workforce productivity, streamline administrative processes and automate repetitive tasks, officials said, allowing physicians and nurses to focus on higher-value patient care.

THE LARGER TREND
Google Cloud and Mayo Clinic first announced their 10-year data hosting and AI research partnership in September 2019. Since then, the two giants have worked on an array of machine learning initiatives – many focused on COVID-19 response – and other AI innovations. Other collaborative projects include an AI startup program, launched in concert with Epic.

Mayo Clinic Chief Information Officer Cris Ross, a longtime believer in healthcare AI applications large and small, spoke this past April at HIMSS23 in Chicago. He noted that healthcare is only in the early stages of "creating and learning how to manage these emerging AI tools," and said it's critical to take an adventurous but cautious and responsible approach to "these [AI] technologies that are transformative but mysterious."

ON THE RECORD
"Our prioritization of patient safety, privacy, and ethical considerations, means that generative AI can have a significant and positive impact on how we work and deliver healthcare," said Ross in a statement this week about the new work with Google.

"Google Cloud's tools have the potential to unlock sources of information that typically aren't searchable in a conventional manner, or are difficult to access or interpret, from a patient's complex medical history to their imaging, genomics and labs," he added. "Accessing insights more quickly and easily could drive more cures, create more connections with patients, and transform healthcare."

"Mayo Clinic is a world leader in leveraging AI for good, and they are a critical partner as we identify responsible ways to bring this transformative technology to healthcare," added Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian.

Mike Miliard is executive editor of Healthcare IT News
Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.