7 Google Ventures Poised To Revolutionize Healthcare

Erica Garvin | HIT Consultant | December 22, 2014

Forget the “sky’s the limit.” Google is reaching for the moon when it comes to healthcare innovation.

Call it bold. Call it ambitious. But one thing you can’t call Google’s recent foray into healthcare innovation is, well, subtle. With a mission to make “The world’s information useful,” and capitalize on its big-data prowess, Google is preparing to carve a serious space for itself in healthcare—right between data-enriched innovation and research revelation.

It seems like the search-engine giant stumbled into healthcare with the emergence of Google Glass in 2013, when physicians, including Dr. Raphael Grossmann (the first surgeon to use Glass in the OR), found the device useful in clinical settings. However, it seems Google’s plan was to enter the healthcare space all along. In early 2013, it created a Life and Sciences division at Google X, the company’s super secretive research lab located in Silicon Valley with the goal of creating major “moonshot” healthcare innovations.

Some may question Google’s ability to turn its commercial beginnings into tomorrow’s healthcare innovations, but why not Google? In fact, it seems like a solid next step or a company that founded and dominated the idea of seeking the answer to life’s queries. The difference here—Google doesn’t have to “feel lucky” to find what it’s looking for— it has the good fortune to create on its own...