Dr. Toby Cosgrove, former president and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, is joining Google as an executive adviser to the Google Cloud healthcare and life sciences team.
Cosgrove, who currently serves as an executive adviser to the Clinic, will help Google Cloud work to achieve what is known in healthcare circles as the Quadruple Aim, an effort to improve patient experience, boost population health, and reduce the cost of healthcare while also creating a better work experience for clinicians and staff.
The aim is to find a way to embrace technology in healthcare—through electronic medical records and automation—without burning out medical staff or taking their attention away from patients.
Cosgrove couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, but a Clinic spokeswoman confirmed that he will continue in his role as an adviser for the hospital system.
During his 13 years as head of the Clinic, through the end of 2017, Cosgrove promoted electronic medical records, virtual visits, and other ways to use technology to improve healthcare costs and delivery.
Just last year, the system launched a pilot in its internal medicine department with Google Glass to use virtual scribes to enter medical records for doctors while they are with patients.
Cosgrove’s newest position continues his history of being a voice for healthcare on the national stage. He served as an adviser on President Donald Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum before it was disbanded in late 2017. And Cosgrove was approached a number of times, both under Trump and former President Barack Obama, to run the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
