Google is the second major tech company to throw its hat in the personal health data ring, announcing a new platform called Fit that will integrate various fitness applications.
Through a set of open application program interfaces (APIs), Fit will allow developers to collect multiple synced apps, and put it in one location for users (of their choice). The company announced the platform at its I/O developer conference. The unveiling of the Fit platform comes three weeks after Apple released its own health data platform that aims to achieve similar things.
Like Apple, Google launched the platform with multiple partners, including Nike and Adidas. Unlike Apple, Google did not launch its initiative with hints of clinical usage. Whereas Apple announced a partnership with Epic at its event, Google focused strictly on personal health data. As noted by Modern Healthcare, Google had at one point in its history created its own clinical data repository, Google Health, which ultimately flopped. Another major difference between Google and Apple's personal health initiatives is that Google's platform is not a single created application like Apple's.
A recent report from the Health Research Institute at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) estimated that there was a $64 billion marketplace in common health diagnostics, treatments and services that could shift from traditional healthcare avenues to new entrants, specifically technology giants like Google, Apple and Samsung.
