Google is committed to health equity

Google Health is committed to helping everyone, everywhere be healthier. We are working to advance health equity and impact the drivers of structural and social determinants of health. As part of the global health equity community, we have an opportunity to ensure our products, services, and research help everyone achieve their full health potential. We aim to accelerate health equity innovation by leveraging our technological capabilities and resources to collaborate with new and longstanding leaders across many fields. Together, we can work to improve health outcomes of individuals and communities.

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Health equity in action across Google

The potential to positively impact health equity is an opportunity. Here are a few examples of how Google is helping to advance health equity.

Google Search

Google Search

Information is a determinant of health, and bridging information gaps can help foster more equitable care. We’ve made it easier for people in the U.S. to find information about Medicaid and Medicare on Google Search, including eligibility requirements and the enrollment process.

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YouTube

YouTube

We are expanding access to authoritative health information and health content creators to meet individuals and communities where they are. We launched THE-IQ, a new program in partnership with KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) that brings together the work of three organizations that serve underrepresented and/or under-resourced communities to bring their voices and perspectives to audiences on YouTube around important topics like mental health, maternal care and health access.

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AI Applications

AI Applications

We are collaborating with partners to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI) models in medicine, healthcare, and research. We are working with Northwestern Medicine on foundational, open-access research studies that validate the use of AI to help providers conduct ultrasounds and perform assessments to make care more accessible in a range of contexts.

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Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite

Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite

We are helping organizations accelerate the development of AI for medical imaging by making imaging data more accessible, interoperable, and useful. We are empowering organizations to transform disease detection and diagnosis by prioritizing critical cases, augmenting treatment decisions, or expanding screenings in underserved areas.

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Fitbit

Fitbit

We are bringing wearable technology to health disparities research. We are working with partners such as pediatrician and palliative care physician Toluwalase Ajayi, MD, at Scripps Research. Dr. Ajayi’s PowerMom FIRST mobile research platform aims to answer questions about how structural racism and discrimination may have a negative impact on maternal and fetal health with a study using Fitbit Luxe trackers and Aria Air smart scales. Join the study.

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Google Cloud Device Connect for Fitbit

Google Cloud Device Connect for Fitbit

Addressing healthcare disparities is a priority across the healthcare ecosystem. A new solution from Fitbit Health Solutions and Google Cloud gives healthcare companies accelerated time to insight from data, and enables a more holistic view of their patients outside of clinical care settings. Analyzing a variety of datasets, such as demographic and social determinants of health (SDOH) alongside Fitbit data has the potential to provide organizations and researchers with new insights regarding disparities that may exist across populations.

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Google Fit

Google Fit

The app allows you to measure your heart rate and respiratory rate, two vital signs commonly used to assess your health and wellness, using just your phone’s camera. We developed both features so they work for as many people as possible. For example, since our heart rate algorithm relies on approximating blood flow from color changes in someone’s fingertip, it has to account for factors such as lighting, skin tone, age and more in order to work for everyone.

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Google’s Health Equity Research Initiative

Google’s Health Equity Research Initiative

Google Health, Google Cloud Platform, Fitbit, and Fitabase are partnering to advance health equity and mitigate health disparities. Researchers at academic institutions and nonprofit research institutions in the United States were invited to submit their health equity research proposals to the Google Health Equity Research Initiative, for an opportunity to receive awards for funding, Google and Fitbit wearable devices, Fitabase services, and/or Google Cloud Platform credits. The objective of the Initiative is to advance health equity research and improve health outcomes for groups disproportionately impacted by health disparities and/or negative social and structural determinants of health. See the 2023 awardees here.

Watch the 2022 Health Equity Summit

We brought together leaders in healthcare, med tech, government, and academia to share progress, exchange best practices and learnings, and promote partnerships in elevating Health Equity and advancing the ecosystem. We have much to learn about how to build equitable and inclusive consumer products and health-supportive technologies from the public health, public policy, social sciences, biomedical informatics, computer science, transportation, housing, and community and economic development fields.