Google revamps healthcare push with AI
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES—Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., is renewing its push into the healthcare sector by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to streamline medical documentation and improve patient care.
This move comes after a series of failed healthcare initiatives, including glucose-sensing contact lenses and cancer-detecting pills.
The latest effort involves AI-powered tools designed to reduce the clerical burden on healthcare providers, allowing them to spend more time with patients.
Google’s AI-powered healthcare AI ambitions
Google’s previous healthcare efforts have been fragmented and largely unsuccessful. The company has struggled to develop a unified health strategy, with efforts dispersed across different divisions like Verily and Calico.
Despite these challenges, the company remains committed to its healthcare goals. “Our North Star is to help people everywhere live longer, healthier lives,” a Google spokesperson said.
Testing AI in real-world healthcare settings
The current focus is on partnership deals, such as the one with HCA Healthcare, to test and refine AI tools. One key tool being tested is an AI-powered nurse handoff note that aims to generate concise reports that can be seamlessly handed from one caregiver to the next.
However, during testing, Nini Loomis, a registered nurse at an HCA hospital in Florida, identified a potentially dangerous omission: the AI failed to note whether a patient had drug allergies.
“This should say, ‘no known drug allergies,’” Loomis pointed out, highlighting the critical need for accurate medical information to prevent life-threatening situations.
Still, Michael Schlosser, HCA Healthcare’s Senior VP of Care Transformation and Innovation, emphasized the importance of human oversight, stating that AI-generated notes must be carefully checked by physicians to ensure accuracy.
Google’s ambitions extend beyond documentation. The company envisions AI that could one day be trained on all of humanity’s medical knowledge, delivering personalized health insights to patients.
Karen DeSalvo, Google’s chief health officer, stated that AI has the “potential to transform health on a planetary scale.”
However, according to over 30 healthcare professionals interviewed by Bloomberg, the technology is not yet reliable enough to consistently deliver high-quality health information,
Mixed reactions from healthcare workers
Despite the potential benefits, the introduction of AI in health care has been met with skepticism.
According to a Pew Research Center survey, 60% of Americans are uncomfortable with medical providers relying on AI for health care. Nurses and other caregivers have also protested the use of AI, citing concerns about patient safety and job security.
On the other hand, several healthcare executives acknowledged how AI has helped them improve healthcare delivery in various ways, from administrative tasks to identifying new cancers.
