Hightech giants – such as Google, Amazon and Apple – are on the fast line when it comes to incorporating healthcare into their business. The past months have shown how seriously the big technology companies are already involved in the healthcare market. It becomes clear that from telemedicine to health trackers, to clinical studies, a whole range of market trends are addressed. Each player pursues its own strategy, which is based on its own digital, tech or platform competence:
Apple continues to strengthen its leading position in the wearables market and adds an ever-increasing number of features every few months. The focus is always on gathering and evaluating user health data. Apple and its devices (iPhone, Apple Watch, etc.) are already deeply embedded in customers’ daily lives, which should not be overlooked. Apple makes use of this proximity to bring clinical research to its consumers’ wrists. According to the latest news, Apple even plans the move to blood-pressure measures and a wrist thermometer in the Apple Watch to help with fertility planning. Furthermore, Apple users will soon be able to share personal health data (e.g. vital, movement and sleep data) with others via the app, e.g. their relatives, their fitness trainer and ideally with the doctor. Consequently, Apple continues its journey into the “closed” ecosystem where Apple users and devices are connected with one another efficiently and in a value-oriented manner.
With its fundamental skill of data analysis, Google, as the most important point of contact for patients, is continuously developing new services and therefore data sources. With the acquisition of Fitbit in 2019, Google likewise joined the wearables industry. Along with the pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, Google works on discovering new application possibilities of super-fast quantum computers for drug development. Furthermore, Google’s Health App incorporated a new function for assessing skin, hair, and nail issues. A sophisticated system analyzes three photos taken by the camera. Several questions are then added to the analysis. Consequently, a list of probable explanations for the symptom is generated. As Google has the most data power they apply this information to create customer-centric goods, which is critical to their success. The software is not intended to replace medical advice from a dermatologist, but it is apparent that it should and will move in this direction.
Amazon is expanding its range of medical services with Alexa, in addition to expanding the variety of its “Amazon Care” health platform and its presence in the online pharmacy market by adding prescription drugs to its “Amazon Pharmacy” range. Furthermore, Amazon dares to step into the highly competitive wearables market with its “halo” bracelet. What makes “halo” so intriguing is that, in addition to tracking vital health parameters like activity level, heart rate, and sleep, it can also analyze the mood/emotional condition of its carrier based on the tone of his or her voice. This sets them apart from the competition and provides Amazon with highly sensitive data which gives them an even more detailed understanding of their customers. For Amazon, the focus is always on the proximity to customers and their needs, or the customer experience.
However, all this hype of the big tech companies in healthcare can only succeed in the long term if patients and healthcare professionals also accept and incorporate their initiatives. Currently, corporations such as Apple are actively pursuing participation from both health researchers and hospitals. A prevalent fear of healthcare professionals is that patients may utilize new technology to self-diagnose, and medical devices would induce worrying results without having an expert opinion. However, if this is actually the case still must be proven. For now, doctors should focus on integrating rather than disregarding new technologies and be more receptive to new innovations brought to the table by both big tech and various entrepreneurs.
References:
https://www.businessinsider.com/2-14-2021-big-tech-in-healthcare-report?international=true&r=US&IR=T
https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/18/22440754/google-health-ai-skin-condition-model-dermatology
https://healthcaresuccess.com/blog/tag/big-tech-in-healthcare
