Hackensack Meridian Health Aims to Boost Innovation, Increase Efficiencies and Strengthen Security with Plans to Run Epic on Google Cloud

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at HLTH 2022, Hackensack Meridian Health shared its plans to move its Epic workloads to Google Cloud, with the aim to drive greater innovation, efficiencies, and security. Google Cloud's agreement with Epic will give healthcare organizations more choices for their cloud environments.

Healthcare leaders, like Hackensack Meridian Health, have been able to accelerate their digital transformations by moving to the cloud, and using technology like analytics and AI, with the ultimate goal to improve patient outcomes. In addition, healthcare is a critical infrastructure industry targeted by cyber criminals and threat actors, making it important to work with a trusted cloud partner.

"Our mission to innovate requires accessible, cutting edge technology," said Robert C. Garrett, FACHE, and chief executive officer for Hackensack Meridian Health. "With our Epic EHR on Google Cloud, we'll be able to innovate faster, and benefit from a more efficient and secure cloud environment."

"We expect running Epic on Google Cloud will be simpler for our IT and developers,  and will allow them to focus more on uncovering creative ways to improve patient care," said Kash Patel, EVP and chief digital information officer for Hackensack Meridian Health. "Having everything with Google Cloud will provide a huge opportunity for discoveries. For example, data from our AI Avatar for natural language processing will already be in Google Cloud, ready for us to ask questions. This will speed up our work and make information more accessible."

From early days, Google sought to improve the lives of as many people as possible, and the pandemic gave a greater urgency to its work to help billions of people live healthier lives. For Google Cloud, this means helping healthcare and life sciences organizations accelerate the digital transformations that put people at the center, by using its infrastructure, security, and our intelligent data platform.

"Hackensack Meridian Health is leading on two of the big transformations underway across this industry: building a secure foundation for digital infrastructure, and putting data and AI to work for the patient," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. "This agreement with Epic will allow us to optimize it to run on Google Cloud, and we look forward to providing healthcare organizations more choice as they work to deliver better outcomes for their patients."

Google Cloud's reliable infrastructure and secure data storage support HIPAA compliance, and when implemented, each customer's layers of security, privacy controls and processes protect the access and use of patient data. Google Cloud customers control their own data, and security and privacy are primary design criteria for all Google Cloud products. More information on privacy can be found on the Google Cloud blog.

Google Cloud accelerates every organization's ability to digitally transform its business. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology – all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

Hackensack Meridian Health is a leading not-for-profit health care organization that is the largest, most comprehensive and truly integrated health care network in New Jersey, offering a complete range of medical services, innovative research and life-enhancing care. The network has 18 hospitals and more than 500 patient care locations, which include ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health services, long-term care and assisted living communities, ambulance services, lifesaving air medical transportation, rehabilitation centers, urgent care centers, physician practice locations, and a fitness and wellness center. With more than 35,000 team members and 7,000 physicians, Hackensack Meridian Health is a distinguished leader in health care philanthropy and committed to the health and well-being of communities throughout New Jersey.

The network's notable distinctions include having more U.S. News-ranked hospitals than any other health system in New Jersey, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report, 2022-23. Hackensack University Medical Center is nationally-ranked by U.S. News & World Report in four specialties, more than any other hospital in New Jersey. Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center, and K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, are ranked #1 in the state and top 20 in the Mid-Atlantic Region by U.S. News & World Report's 2022-23 Best Children's Hospital Report. Additionally, their combined nephrology program ranks in the top 50 in the United States.

To learn more, visit www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org.

SOURCE Google Cloud