Healthcare 2.0: What's Google's Role?

When I discuss strategy 2.0 with healthcare professionals, one question invariably comes up. It is sometimes framed as an inquisitive question: "What is Google doing in the healthcare domain?" Other times, healthcare executives wonder: "What could Google do to threaten my business model?"

Both are legitimate question since healthcare is (1) data-intensive: (2) computation-intensive; and (3) the current business models are broken and need to be fixed as the sector embraces the network-era opportunities and recognizes the challenges of architecting newer business models. Just recently, I blogged about the forthcoming health2.0 conference.

Here is a recent blog posted by Adam Bosworth, Vice President Google Health that is worth reading. He outlines three core principles

• Discovery - Consumers should be able to discover the most relevant health information possible
• Action - Consumers should have direct access to personalized services to help them get the best and most convenient possible health support
• Community - Consumers should be able to learn from and educate those in similar health circumstances and from their health practitioners

There is also an extended text of his presentation at the 2007 American Medical Association of Informatics (AMIA) Spring Congress. It is clear that Google wants to play leadership roles in #1 (allowing consumers to discover most relevant health information) and #3 (creating an effective peer-to-peer network along the lines of Orkut and Blogger). We may even see something like Myheathspace (along the lines of MySpace) orchestrated by some trusted healthcare entity in the not so distant future.

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It will be interesting to see what new ideas emerge from the Health2.0 conference scheduled for later this year. It is clearly an industry ripe for transition using the power of information technology.