At its annual health event on Tuesday, Google announced a series of changes to its search tool that it said will make it easier to access information about affordable health care services. 

For example, the company will move affordable local health care options to the top of its search queries. It will also use a conversational artificial intelligence technology called Duplex to verify information from providers and check whether they accept state Medicaid plans. 

"People come to Google with health-related questions hundreds of millions of times a day," the company said in a press release. "They also turn to YouTube, where videos about health conditions were viewed more than 110 billion times globally in 2021." 

In the near term, Google will also make it easier for users to find information through search about Medicaid re-enrollment, which is due by the end of March. 

The other big announcement from the event was the launch of Open Health Stack, an open-source tool kit for software developers in the health care space. The goal is for developers to create new apps making it easier for health care workers to access patient information. 

"Digital health solutions built to date have focused on solving for single, disease-focused conditions, leading to data silos and making it difficult for healthcare workers to access the patient information they need," the company said. 

The Open Health Stack is designed to help developers break out of these silos and share best practices.

Finally, the tech giant said it is developing a model for automatically outlining and contouring organs on CT scans, while limiting exposure to radiation. 

Share:
More In Business
Tony Awards draw best audience in 6 years for CBS
The Tony Awards on Sunday lured 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years. CBS says Monday that Nielsen data shows the telecast — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — scored a 38% increase over last year’s 3.53 million viewers. That’s the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers and “Hadestown” was crowned best new musical. The latest version also had to compete with the second game of the NBA Finals, between the Thunder and Pacers,
Apple unveils software redesign while reeling from AI missteps
After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during a developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.
DA: Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing said he ‘had it coming’
Six weeks before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel last December, Luigi Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and expressed that killing the executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming."
Load More