Healthcare Magazine August 2014 | Page 29

Blackberry In , Google Out
Other smartphone makers such as Apple Inc . and Samsung Electronics Ltd ., have also ventured into the healthcare sector by introducing smartphone add-ons such as heart rate monitors and a plethora of health apps to gather data . There is one technology giant , however , who refuses to enter the healthcare space : Google .
At a yearly CEO summit , Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page discussed many of their projects such as driverless cars and flying wind turbines . Towards the end of the discussion however , host VC Vinod Khosla began to ask about health .
When questioned whether Google could imagine itself becoming a health company , Brin and Page ’ s response was a collective “ no .”
“ Generally , health is just so heavily regulated . It ’ s just a painful business to be in . It ’ s just not necessarily how I want to spend my time . Even though we do have some health projects , and we ’ ll be doing that to a certain extent . But I think the regulatory burden in the U . S . is so high that it would dissuade a
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