Google shuts down unified health division as chief leaves company

Google is reportedly dismantling its health technology initiative and splitting its projects across other teams as the chief of the division departs the company.

Dr. David Feinberg is reportedly leaving Google to join electronic medical records firm Cerner as its CEO and president. According to Business Insider, the various projects and teams that make up Google Health are being split across other parts of Google.

In a memo sent to Google employees on Thursday, Google research whiff Jeff Dean announced that the company's health division would no longer function as a single initiative. Some teams previously organized under Dr. Feinberg, like Google Health's clinical group, will now report to Dean.

"Google deeply believes in the power of technology to improve health and wellness and we have increased our health investments across the company," Google told Business Insider. "This has included developing projects within Google Health, launching and expanding health-related features on Search, Maps and YouTube that reach billions of people, and welcoming Fitbit."

Back in February 2020, Google Health had about 500 employees. Some of its projects included cloud partnerships with medical organizations and a tool for doctors to more easily search patient health records.

News of Google's health reorganization comes about a day after a report indicated that Apple is scaling back a specific health team that was focused on an internal health app.

Apple has continued to expanded its health focus over the years, however. The company unveiled a slew of health technologies earlier in 2021, including secure sharing with physicians and wellness-focused tools on the iPhone and Apple Watch.

3 Comments

gatorguy 24627 comments · 13 Years

About 3 years ago

It appears to me that Google is going back to relying on individual projects and leadership for the teams, essentially as they were designed prior to 2018 when Dr. Feinberg joined Google and took all of them under his wing.

According to the Wall Street Journal along with Twitter posts from Google themselves, Google Health projects will continue. Obviously both Google and Apple are adjusting their outlooks on their health initiatives so perhaps individual projects can more easily be dropped or merged with other ones.

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

While mobile, digital, and home based monitoring may be the key to promoting American health, Electronic Health Records collect the profit.

So, despite Google's wealth, Cerner, backed by their EHR profits could likely offer this guy far more.

Why? While they have failed the nation and the people miserably, EHRs help insure the profits of the medical industry because, medical systems have full, easy, cheap access to a person's private health information as well as cheap, easy access to data for billing.

A prime example of how they have failed us: Despite almost all health care information being stored in electronic records, public health agencies are still using paper, pencil, spreadsheets and fax machines to report and monitor the spread of the Corona virus. Another area where they have failed is in the use of epidemiologic studies that could reform the broken healthcare system but where they are seldom, if ever, used.

The one area where they have helped is the near elimination of hand written, nearly indecipherable physician orders that left much to the expertise and imagination of the person executing those orders.

amar99 180 comments · 14 Years

About 3 years ago

Great, now can Google please leave Google? Enough with this company, in bed with the government for at least 10 years.