Google has announced that it plans to “retire” Google Health in January 2012. It’s a blow to those in the medical tourism world who had grand plans for the “global patient record” and who were using the Google health record as the model or template for this.
Google has announced that it plans to “retire” Google Health in January 2012. It’s a blow to those in the medical tourism world who had grand plans for the “global patient record” and who were using the Google health record as the model or template for this.
Back in 2007, Google announced Google Health with the words: “By digitizing health records and giving control over them to the patients, they will be able to make better informed decisions. With health records stored in a central server, patients will be able to access them from anywhere, whether they move to a new city or are traveling while on vacation, so that, in an emergency, unfamiliar health care providers can get a comprehensive view of their health history” (Source: ABC news - Google Moving Forward on Health Initiative).
In withdrawing the system, Google says that Google Health “didn't scale as we had hoped.... we’ve observed that Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would”
What factors have driven Google to abandon Google Health and is there a message here for the concept of the “global health record” in the medical tourism world?
Here are some of the factors that have been put forward for the failure of Google Health:
So does Google Health’s demise open the door for Microsoft’s HealthVault? We can only wait and see.
For additional perspectives on why Google Health died a death:
I am Executive Chairman of LaingBuisson International Ltd, a major provider of healthcare business intelligence. Our websites include International Medical Travel Journal, Treatment Abroad, the medical tourism portal, DoctorInternet, the Arabic medical tourism portal and Private Healthcare UK, the UK's leading site for private healthcare services. I am a regular speaker and commentator on medical tourism and the independent healthcare sector.
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