Google Care Studio: the power of search for medicine

Intro to Care Studio

Health information is incredibly complex. Important parts of a patient’s history are often scattered across multiple systems, and gaps in information can lead to medical errors or even delays in treatment. That’s why we’ve built Care Studio, a new tool that provides clinicians with an integrated view of a patient’s records and allows them to quickly search through patient information within a health system. Care Studio organizes complex healthcare information to help clinicians spend more time where it counts — caring for patients.

The power of Search for medicine

Care Studio leverages Google's expertise in organizing information to help clinicians find health record information faster. The tool’s Clinical Search feature enables nurses and doctors to simply type what they’re looking for and quickly find the specific information requested -- which might otherwise require significant time and effort to uncover.

Care Studio is designed to adhere to industry-wide regulations that protect patient data and govern how data can be used and processed, including HIPAA.

Care Studio Pilots with Healthcare Providers

Google has piloted a new search tool for electronic medical records called Care Studio. In the trial phase, around 250 clinicians will be able to use it. The tool will allow providers to save time when sorting through patient records. Over a year ago, Google attempted a partnership with the hospital chain Ascension, but faced objections over its data-sharing scheme.

“The software that lets clinicians search through reams of patient health record data without needing to know precisely where to look. Like the traditional Google search bar, the tool automatically generates responses as a doctor types inside of it, with the goal of retrieving relevant clinical information faster and more easily.”

How Care Studio supports clinicians

Care Studio streamlines key clinician workflows so that teams can quickly get the information they need to care for patients. It brings together patient records from the multiple EHRs an organization uses – giving clinicians a centralized view of patient data and the ability to search across these records.

"We’ve honed our search capabilities based on medical terminology and clinical shorthand, so that clinicians can simply type what they're looking for into a search bar and instantly surface relevant patient record information. Still, a patient’s history can be long and complex, making important details difficult to find. Care Studio uses Google technology to display relevant information in fewer clicks. For example, Care Studio can automatically organize the medications in a patient’s history with information on dosing and when they were prescribed. The tool also makes it easy to find pertinent information, including lab results, procedure orders, medication orders and progress notes."

Care Studio harmonizes medical data across different systems. For example, even though health systems report measurements like blood pressure or glucose levels using different units, Care Studio automatically converts them so they are easier for a clinician to understand and compare.