Battle Between Google and Microsoft Could Trigger Revolution in Healthcare, Says Group | Government Technology | 7.10.07
Google and Microsoft, aware that a large number of Internet searches are health related, are actively attempting to build a presence in the healthcare sector.
[D]octors…are already having to come to terms with informed patients who have “Googled” their symptoms could see these same patients gaining access to their genetic profile and managing their health using an online patient record.
Google’s recent investment in the Genetic profiling company 23andMe and Microsoft’s purchase of the intelligent medical search company Medstory could lead to the emergence of services that are highly disruptive within the healthcare market.
Wireless Healthcare describes…people who both take their health seriously and have started to use Internet searches to identify early signs of disease
For the sake of discussion, the following are defined:
- Provider: broadly construed as all those that provide health services.
- Customer: broadly construed as all those that pay for health services.
- Consumer: those that receive the paid for health services.
An informed consumer, aided by such disruptive technologies, may be able to triangulate the inherent conflicts of interest amongst the customers and providers of health services.