Tech giants' role in the dramatic shift in health care

The health care sector will be one of the biggest corporate battle turfs in the coming decades. According to Forbes, ‘health-tech’ is projected to reach $149 billion by 2025. No wonder tech giants are now aggressively moving into this sector, investing billions in research and acquisitions. The Big Four tech companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft—have already entered health care domains.

With the entry of tech giants, a dramatic shift is evident in the world of health care. These companies are keen to use their technological expertise to bring out advanced, but easy-to-use, medical solutions. For instance, in this year’s Google I/O—the annual developer conference—Google Health researchers showcased a dermatology tool powered by artificial intelligence. The tool helps users to identify dermatologic issues using a simple phone camera. On launching it on the phone, the tool will take three images of the skin, hair or nail from different angles. Then the user will have to answer certain questions: about the skin type; how long the user has been suffering from the skin problem; and details of other symptoms. The AI system will then analyse these data points and come up with a list of possible matching conditions.

The tool is the culmination of three years of research. Interestingly, three years before that Google brought its health care projects under the umbrella of the Google Health division. The other innovative solutions unveiled by Google Health in the last three years include a machine-learning algorithm to screen for diabetic retinopathy and an AI-based system to predict lung cancer. In 2019, Google acquired consumer electronics and fitness company Fitbit for $2.1 billion. This was probably the most important move the company made to penetrate the health care industry.

Diabetes care and the diabetes device market are two areas where the tech giants have a special focus. The diabetes device market is expected to touch $38 billion by 2026. Both Apple and Google have a partnership with medical device maker Dexcom to shake up the diabetes space. Apple is working with Dexcom to bring out products that are integrated with tools for blood sugar monitoring. Amazon recently gave Alexa (a cloud-based voice service) new skills to help diabetics verbally check and keep a log of their blood sugar levels.

Amazon also has big plans to transform the medical supply chain and pharmacy sector. The company could disrupt the medical supply distribution space, leveraging its delivery power. Microsoft is already in a fight with Amazon and Alphabet to control the health care cloud services market. In April, Microsoft announced the acquisition of health care AI and voice recognition company Nuance for $16 billion, to “deliver new cloud and AI capabilities across health care and other industries”.

Covid-19 has changed consumer demand and given a big push for digital health care. The non-traditional entrants into the industry—under the leadership of the Big Four—are expected to bring relevant solutions for the industry’s legacy ills.

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