Today, I received a follow-up notice from Google about my Google Health account. In effect, Google icasked me to download all my data as it will not be accessible because Google chose to discontinue the service. So, here we go.
All the King's horses and All the King's men....
Such is the state of the healthcare laws and regulatory uncertainty that even with its engineering prowess and problem solving Product Managers, Google could not solve the problem.
Or is it that Google did not find a way to easily monetize it without getting in conflict with US laws? Not so long ago, Google had to settle a matter of illegal pharmacy sales for $500 million with the Justice Department. More details here.
Microsoft still continues...
Rival tech giant Microsoft ($MSFT) decided to continue offering Microsoft Health Vault. The offering seems to make sense. They have a monetization plan as well.
The Killer App
Microsoft seems to stick to its path adopted in the quest to establish the ecosystem for enhancing patient care. After all, healthcare is a prime focus in most of the budget deficit reduction debates as it is slated to become 20% of GDP. A ton of self-help consumer apps are in place. Nothing comes as close to a comprehensive set of features and every consumer has to go to various apps for various services. For instance, an app reminds patients on their prescription intake. It coordinates with the hospital and provides reminder-alert service to the patients.
The quality attributes of the killer app are difficult to gauge and establish until the regulations are finalized. Regulations have been finalized but they are not uniform throughout the country. For instance, Obama care is not going to be implemented or will need Federal help to be implemented in 22 out of the 50 States in the US. Consequently, architecture of such a product will be exposed to serious risks.
