The largest technology companies in the world have been looking for new health solutions for years. Details about what projects each one leads.
The American giant Microsoft has just made the second largest acquisition in its history by acquiring AI Nuance for healthcare-specific cloud technology, And it’s just one of the ways technology giants are investing heavily in the digitalization of healthcare.
The crisis triggered by the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has exposed health deficiencies in many ways, such as a shortage of workers and the prevalence of disease among young people.
However, this sector, valued at $ 3.6 billion, has become a emphasis on investment and contracting; Experts predict that health care will increase as the baby boomer generation ages and needs more care.
The biggest technology companies – Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Apple – have been betting on health for years. This is the latest news and movements of technology companies in their attempt to revolutionize the healthcare industry.
Microsoft
Microsoft launched Cloud for Healthcare late last year, the first industry-specific cloud offering. The product allows healthcare professionals to schedule and perform virtual patient visits within Microsoft Teams; and monitor patients’ medical devices remotely via Azure.
The technology company is trying to plant its banner on the digitization and improvement of medical records to reduce the administrative tasks that doctors have to do and to reduce the exhaustion of doctors.
Microsoft has worked with speech recognition and artificial intelligence tools Shade take note of conversations between patients and physicians during telemedicine consultations on Microsoft teams.
“We believe that our solutions, together with Microsoft’s platform and capabilities, will bring the practice of medicine back to that intimate interaction between physician and patient; In addition, they will effectively reduce the administrative burden“, remarked the Mark Benjamin, Nuance CEO, in dialogue with CNBC.
Amazon
Like your e-commerce and cloud computing businesses, Amazon is strongly committed to health in many ways.
The company was launched in November Amazon Pharmacy, who can deliver their recipes to most US customers without shipping costs.
First members receive special benefits; such as discounts of up to 80% on generic drugs when paying without insurance and delivery within 2 days when using Amazon Pharmacy.
Amazon claims that the newly launched portable Hate can analyze a user’s voice through speech and calculate body fat percentage using a smartphone, 2 features that separate it from its competitors Fitbit and Apple Watch.
But Amazon’s most ambitious effort is to develop a way to connect workers from other companies with primary care specialists for online and in-person consultations.
Amazon intends to sell the primary care service – called Amazon Care – to companies that want to reduce the cost of health care for their employees.
Google has probably had the most tumultuous process of setting up a healthcare company. Three directors from Google Health – including the global implementation manager – recently left the project.
The tech giant first launched Google Health in 2012, but shut it down after just two years due to low user interest..
Even if Google Health returned under the new leadership in 2018Blake Dodge and Hugh Langley of Business Insider reported that the team struggled to define its mission and learn how to make money.
Public criticism for privacy reasons prevented Google Health’s first major alliance with Ascension to store health records in the cloud.
The United States has launched an investigation into the agreement to determine whether Google’s use of medical records violates privacy laws.
Sources specified that True, a life sciences research company, could be separated from Google’s parent company, Alphabet, to operate as a separate company.
Google Medical Company has achieved recent victories, including the completion of the $ 2.1 billion Fitbit acquisition in January.. US regulators are still determining whether the agreement violates antitrust law.
The company also launched Care Studio, a tool that helps clinicians organize patient data; and, launched a collaboration of u $ 100 million between Google Cloud and the Amwell telehealth platform.
Apple
The giant Cupertino invests in helping users with their personal health through Clock. In September, Apple has unveiled a new $ 400 Apple Watch which measures the user’s blood oxygen level and heart rate.
And, although it’s not exactly health, Apple has just launched Fitness Plus, a subscription training service that has Peloton as its main rival.
The service, worth $ 9.99 per month, requires an Apple Watch to sign up. The UnitedHealthcare insurer offered a free 6-month subscription to Fitness Plus.
Similar to Google, sources close to Apple noted in 2019 that the health team lacked concentration and growth. Microsoft Yes Google they had no other statements to add. Amazon Yes Apple were not immediately available for comment.
Source: Business Insider