Google Health knows when you're sick
November 11, 2008 -- Google has discovered that it can detect influenza outbreaks and other "...snapshots of what's on the public's collective mind" by mining aggregated search data. Using this data, they are several days ahead of the federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) in detecting disease trends. In other words, when people get sick, they search for terms like "flu symptoms" and many more. And Google is paying attention. You, too, can stay atop these trends via Google trends. Watch flu trends and more... As Google says, "Google search isn't just about looking up football scores from last weekend or finding a great hotel for your next vacation. It can also be used for the public good." Do you agree? Draw your own conclusions. |
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Dan Keller's Nursing, Health Policy & Healthcare Technology Blog
Nursing Informatics · Clinical Perspectives · Healthcare Systems
"The United States alone [among wealthy countries] treats health care as a commodity to be distributed according to the ability to pay rather than a social service to be distributed according to medical need." — JAMA (2003), 290, 798