We’ve spent a good part of our summer writing about Big Tech and how these companies, Amazon, Google/Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, IBM and NVIDIA have approached medicine and its trillion-dollar market possibilities. These six companies have the most projects in healthcare, and their presence is not negligible at all: they all have the power and the incentive to transform and help digitise this market.
Moreover, all of these companies have something peculiar and very unique to give. Amazon’s distribution network can change the way we think of pharmacies in the future. Microsoft can bring steadiness, reason and predictability. Apple’s design and seamless approach make us see systems as flawless organisms. Google’s in-depth knowledge of A.I. and its practical use in cure. IBM bringing its power and history onto the field of machine learning and quantum computing. And last but not least, a relative newcomer, NVIDIA knowing how to manufacture systems and practical implementations. In this closing part of the series, we give you a final summary and analysis on where we think Tech Giants are heading – and if you want to read more about these companies and what they have already done and achieved in healthcare, we recommend you to get your copy of our e-book, Tech Giants In Healthcare!
Big Tech In Medicine: How Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google, IBM & NVIDIA Disrupt Healthcare TMFForecastArtificial Intelligence in MedicineDigital Health ResearchFuture of MedicineFuture of PharmaGenomicsHealth InsuranceHealth Sensors & TrackersPortable Medical DiagnosticsSecurity & PrivacyTelemedicine & Smartphones
The Medical Futurist | 10 min | 24 August 2021
Follow us for more
260k
83k
2,6M
90k
4k
Subscribe to our newsletter Subscribe We’ve spent a good part of our summer writing about Big Tech and how these companies, Amazon, Google/Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, IBM and NVIDIA have approached medicine and its trillion-dollar market possibilities. These six companies have the most projects in healthcare, and their presence is not negligible at all: they all have the power and the incentive to transform and help digitise this market. Moreover, all of these companies have something peculiar and very unique to give. Amazon’s distribution network can change the way we think of pharmacies in the future. Microsoft can bring steadiness, reason and predictability. Apple’s design and seamless approach make us see systems as flawless organisms. Google’s in-depth knowledge of A.I. and its practical use in cure. IBM bringing its power and history onto the field of machine learning and quantum computing. And last but not least, a relative newcomer, NVIDIA knowing how to manufacture systems and practical implementations. In this closing part of the series, we give you a final summary and analysis on where we think Tech Giants are heading – and if you want to read more about these companies and what they have already done and achieved in healthcare, we recommend you to get your copy of our e-book, Tech Giants In Healthcare!
Amazon’s Dive Into Healthcare
With its thorough knowledge of online sales and distribution, it was inevitable that one of the milestones of this tech giant’s steps in healthcare will include the disruption of pharma distribution chains. As we wrote in our related article, in 2017, when Amazon received drug distribution licenses in over 10 U.S. states, the news sent traditional players in the pharmaceutical market into a frenzy. Amazon’s pharm plans further expanded when it bought startup online pharmacy PillPack for nearly $1 billion in 2018, ultimately selling over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs, and its own line of OTC drugs. And, of course, this isn’t all.
What Amazon is betting on
Providing telehealth services for its employees and later to other customers primarily in the U.S.
Using its supply chain to quickly deliver medications
Using Alexa for chatbot-based medical services
What I expect Amazon will make further use of its vast knowledge of online shopping trends and behaviour and will keep on providing what people need, from medicine to wearables. It might encounter some difficulties in areas they know less; but as it is already active in the most profitable segment of medicine (pharma manufacturing and sales), it can maintain its profitability. So no Amazon hospital, but yes to fields that can be built with data from e-commerce
What I expect
Amazon will make further use of its vast knowledge of online shopping trends and behaviour and will keep on providing what people need, from medicine to wearables. It might encounter some difficulties in areas they know less; but as it is already active in the most profitable segment of medicine (pharma manufacturing and sales), it can maintain its profitability. So no Amazon hospital, but yes to fields that can be built with data from e-commerce.
Producing a device every 6th people has in their pocket worldwide, it seems clear how Apple can reach the field to play on. Not to mention another health tool: Apple holds the largest share of the global smartwatch shipment market. In the first quarter of 2020, that accounted for a substantial 47.9% share of the market. The company has been heavily leveraging the popularity of its smartwatch for its healthcare plans.
Through Apple Watch, the company has built an excellent pathway to electronic health records, too. Apple’s Health app aims to bridge patients and doctors, and all the data in-between. Users can share their health data collected by the Health app directly to EMRs, like Cerner, which is already supporting this feature. Seamlessly sharing patient healthcare data from an Apple device to an EMR and this being viewable by a doctor or caregiver represent a major step in facilitating digital health approaches.
What Apple is betting on
Using the Apple Watch for consumer health and research
Connecting the Apple Health app to selected third-party services
What I expect
Apple will keep on working on expanding the health features of its devices, Apple Watch and iPhones included. Even more, I think some of the new features introduced in the next iPhones will be more health- than tech-related! Apple-owned clinics? The news was out but the company retreated, keeping a clear portfolio.
Of all these tech giants, Google is the one that knows what exactly people want. Even more: some say it can even direct that will. And people sure want health: 7% of all Google searches (an astounding 70,000 per minute) is health-related around the world. The search giant has repeatedly successfully transferred its in-depth knowledge of algorithms in the field of medicine, particularly since it acquired DeepMind.
After a successful pilot in supporting cancer research, Google put its A.I. and its cloud computing expertise to use in partnerships. May 2021 HCA Healthcare and Alphabet’s Google Cloud announced a collaboration to develop algorithms to mine insights in patient records from the provider to improve efficiency and patient outcomes; and also this year the giant introduced its dermatology app supporting skin cancer monitoring and diagnosis.
Google had some missteps along the way, too, from Google Glass to launching-relaunching, now shutting down again its Google Health branch. But don’t give up on Google in healthcare: if the company want in, it will be in.
What Google/Alphabet is betting on
Scrapping Google Health and giving more space to small-scale projects with more autonomy
Improving A.I. for medical and research purposes with DeepMind
Investing into a ton of startups and directions through Verily and GV
What I expect
Through its investment funds GV and Gradient Ventures, Google is successfully keeping its fingers on the pulse of healthcare-related startups and ideas. It keeps being a driving force behind health- and A.I.-related investments. Google sure learned how information is everything, and already built an empire on top. Also, it’s easy to expect to see more A.I.-related medical breakthroughs from them.
Microsoft has always focused on the enterprise side of anything it entered into. Throughout 2020, the company strengthened its healthcare-related partnerships with organisations and research institutes. By delivering its computing know-how and the fact that most medical professionals are familiar with the way Microsoft’s computers are built and operate, the tech giant only needs to keep being good at what it already knows.
Last October, Microsoft launched Cloud for Healthcare, a new, healthcare-centric cloud. It integrates the company’s existing services like Microsoft Teams, Azure IoT and its Healthcare Bot. These tools aim to assist with collaboration among staff and carry out telemedicine consultations. In April 2021 Microsoft acquired A.I.-powered speech-technology company, Nuance. The company’s software can listen and transcribe doctor-patient conversations into organized medical notes.
What Microsoft is betting on
Cloud computing
Health IT services (doesn’t sound sexy, but it makes healthcare work)
What I expect
For me Microsoft is just like a liked uncle in the family: you can always count on him showing up at family gatherings, bringing flowers and a set of old jokes. Microsoft might not be a forerunner in healthcare, but what it promises, the company will surely deliver. So I expect it to be a poised partner for hospitals and health institutions/universities, providing its massive knowledge and infrastructure to support research and development.
IBM’s Moonshot Ambition In Healthcare
For over a century, tech company IBM was known for its innovation and client focus. But in recent years, its glory in innovation has faded. The company tried to build a stronghold in artificial intelligence with Watson, but the program is currently scrapped, as “physicians were hesitant to adopt artificial intelligence.” So after having spent years developing the branch and having invested considerable resources into it, IBM abandoning these efforts altogether comes as a surprise.
In quantum computing, IBM took the lead but is in a tight race with other tech giants like Google. IBM is also trying to stay on board with being at the forefront of the use of blockchain in a medical setting, co-operating for example with Moderna, and having enterprise-level customers like the State of New York for a blockchain-secured health certificate app.
What IBM is betting on
Trying to rebrand IBM Watson as a healthcare A.I.
Seeing the future in quantum computing
What I expect
IBM seems to be keeping a straightforward path with the eyes on the prize. The company does not attempt to enter fields it lacks the knowledge on, which I consider a good (and financially stable) thing. Once again, I don’t expect to have IBM hospitals or clinics, but healthcare institutions, using all IBM has to offer in federated learning, blockchain and quantum computing. Which is, quite a lot.
IBM In Healthcare, 2021NVIDIA, From Gaming To Medicine
Who would’ve thought NVIDIA has been active in healthcare for over a decade – the company helped bring innovative diagnostic imaging, robotic surgery and patient monitoring devices to the market. The processor unit manufacturer launched its A.I. platform, Clara in 2018, designed to augment medical imaging and genomics. It followed up a year later with a toolkit for radiologists, Clara A.I., to help with the classification of images. In 2019, the tech giant also started to explore federated learning in healthcare, the privacy-focused A.I. training method.
NVIDIA, too, thought speech recognition technology would grow in importance in the future. Their software can help transcribe and better organise information from telemedicine visits. But probably their most important added value in healthcare will be the Cambridge-1 supercomputer the company is building in the UK. The UK’s most powerful supercomputer will aid in A.I. research in healthcare.
What NVIDIA is betting on
Using its supercomputers and chips to improve drug design, genomics research and chatbots, among others
What I expect NVIDIA seems incredibly focused in its approach towards healthcare. The company uses its strengths in data, machine learning and hardware manufacturing, and builds these all into its vision for healthcare, which is efficient, fast and entirely high-tech. Honestly, I can share their enthusiasm. We can expect NVIDIA to be a leader in the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare – maybe not the data-driven, but more the creative part of the field. Gaming In Healthcare – Death Stranding’s delivery guyWith this, we have finished this round of talking about Big Tech in medicine. Their weight, level of involvement, size of investment and even their approach vary, but they all make waves in healthcare. Given their background, they all focus on the technological side of medicine, and here’s the only bit I’m missing from their side: patient centricity. But just as healthcare is complex and requires as much technology as empathy and care, I’m sure patient focus and even involvement will inevitably come. For now, I am only sure that we’ll hear more about these companies in healthcare. As news of their endeavours is coming out almost every day, their steps will not go unnoticed. I’m also looking forward to having my forecasts challenged!
Related Articles