Armed with big-data analytics, machine learning, and other novel methods, US Big Tech firms are getting into the health-care game, promising vast improvements in health outcomes and efficiency. What could possibly go wrong?
LONDON – In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, David Feinberg, the head of Google Health and a self-professed astrology buff, enthused that, “If you believe me that all we are doing is organizing information to make it easier for your doctor, I’m going to get a little paternalistic here: I’m never going to let that get opted out.” In other words, patients will soon have no choice but to receive personalized clinical horoscopes based on their own medical histories and inferences drawn from a growing pool of patient records. But even if we want such a world, we should take a hard look at what today’s health-tech proponents are really selling.
LONDON – In an interview with the Wall Street Journal earlier this year, David Feinberg, the head of Google Health and a self-professed astrology buff, enthused that, “If you believe me that all we are doing is organizing information to make it easier for your doctor, I’m going to get a little paternalistic here: I’m never going to let that get opted out.” In other words, patients will soon have no choice but to receive personalized clinical horoscopes based on their own medical histories and inferences drawn from a growing pool of patient records. But even if we want such a world, we should take a hard look at what today’s health-tech proponents are really selling.