It's not just Google — Amazon, IBM and Microsoft have also struck deals with hospitals across the country to gain access to patient data, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters: It reveals just how expansive the relationship between tech companies and hospitals has become — and lawmakers have taken notice.
Details: There's no evidence of wrongdoing; hospitals can share patient data as long as they follow federal law.
The deals have the potential to yield information and products valuable to patients.
For example, Microsoft is partnering with Providence, a large hospital system, to create oncology algorithms using doctor's notes in medical records.
The big picture: "Digitizing patients' medical histories, laboratory results and diagnoses has created a booming market in which tech giants are looking to store and crunch data, with potential for groundbreaking discoveries and lucrative products," WSJ writes.
Hospitals can also benefit financially from the deals, some of which include intellectual property rights for the hospitals' contributions to new products.
