Due Diligence Is In, Google Health Is Out

Google announced it’s pulling the plug on their Google Health personal health record (PHR). Developers that built connectors between their EHR and Google's PHR systems will be left out in the cold. The take-away from this shutdown is that, when choosing a third party partner, provider, and/or vendor due diligence must be performed, even if it’s a Fortune 100 company like Google. For instance, in addition to validating Google's ability to actually deliver the product, there were 4 other areas that should have been investigated also.

Financial: In 2010 Google had annual revenue in excess of $29 billion and roughly $8 billion in profits, so financial stability and resources were not a problem.

Capability: Over the past decade Google has been one of the most technically innovative companies around, i.e. Internet search, Android, etc., so Google’s technical capability was not an issue.

Support: Although Google was only founded about 13 years ago -- barring any illegal activity -- a multinational company with over 24,000 employees and several billion dollars in revenue doesn't disappear overnight. Google’s viability to provide long term support was strong.

Competence: Google is an Internet search company that hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products. However none (or very little) are federally regulated like EHR systems, this should have raised a few eyebrows. A healthy discussion should have occurred around Google’s inexperience and competency with developing federally regulated healthcare software. Unfortunately, entities that did perform due diligence and decided to proceed with Google's PHR development, Google's lack of experience was probably overshadowed by their very strong financial and technical positions.

Currently, both public and private entities have not settled upon health data standards and the execution of national health information exchange. According to former U.S. HIT coordinator David Blumenthal this could be a decade-long health IT construction project. Basically, Google did not have the stomach to tough it out. PHR development is not at the pace, and space, for a savvy, leading-edge, technical innovative company such as Google.

During my IBM days, I remember a CFO stating that no one loses their job for choosing IBM as a partner. For those healthcare IT executives that chose to hitch their wagon to Google’s PHR, hopefully none of them will lose their job for choosing Google as a partner.