Google search results to include health facts
pharmafile | February 12, 2015 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | digital, google, health, internet, knowledge graph, wearables
Google is set to introduce health information directly into its search results as increasing numbers of people use search engines for medical purposes.
When searching for a condition, the ‘Knowledge Graph’ information box will appear at the top of the results and show the typical symptoms and treatments, as well as other details like how common it is, what ages it affects, and whether it is critical or contagious.
The results draw from a database of 400 commonly-searched medical conditions, which Google product manager Prem Ramaswami says has been rigorously fact-checked: “We worked with a team of medical doctors (led by our own Dr. Kapil Parakh, M.D., MPH, Ph.D.) to carefully compile, curate, and review this information.
“All of the gathered facts represent real-life clinical knowledge from these doctors and high-quality medical sources across the web, and the information has been checked by medical doctors at Google and the Mayo Clinic for accuracy.”
However, he also warns that the search results are not intended to be completely medically accurate.
“We know that cases can vary in severity from person to person, and that there are bound to be exceptions. What we present is intended for informational purposes only—and you should always consult a healthcare professional if you have a medical concern.”
Research published last year suggested that increasing numbers of patients are using the internet to self-diagnose themselves. 78% of doctors surveyed said that patients went online for answers before seeing them, and 32% said that many had a pre-determined idea of what their course of treatment should be.
According to Ramaswami, currently one in 20 Google searches are for health-related information.
Whether or not the internet can be trusted as source of medical information is open to question, however. Wikipedia in particular has come under fire from groups such as Cancer Research UK for its low levels of accuracy.
Google’s new service will only be available in the US to begin with, but the company says that it has plans to cover more areas of the world, along with more medical conditions.
George Underwood
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