What is the single most important, immediate technological innovation in healthcare today? Many would respond that stem cells, gene therapy, or biologics are the most important innovations. Yes, they are critical, but think differently.

Earlier this week Inc. acquired robotics company Boston Dynamics, bringing their total number robotics acquisitions to eight. This may even lead others to suggest that innovations of the future, and healthcare, depend on robots, such as ’s Da Vinci Surgical System. Indeed, the Da Vinci Surgical System, a robotic surgical tool operated by remote human command, has been making a major impact within the surgical industry.

Da Vinci Surgical System. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But as significant as Intuitive’s Da Vinci System has undoubtedly been for the future of healthcare, there is an innovator hidden in plain view, which is positioned to revolutionize medicine in its entirety.

The reality is that the pivotal mover in the impending healthcare revolution will be Google. Their products include their globally known search engine, and more recently Google Glass. The healthcare revolution has already begun, and Google has been at the head for some time now. It will not be robotics that transforms the industry, but information symmetry now offers us a vision of a new health system.

People should always be wary of paradigm shifts, but in the healthcare industry it is through paradigm shifts that we achieve meaningful healthcare improvements. These shifts can be both small and great. For instance, in 1954 the small New Jersey company Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) revolutionized medicine with one seemingly uncomplicated adjustment: they began producing disposable plastic syringes instead of reusable glass syringes. Becton Dickinson revolutionized medicine by creating a new protocol for syringe management.

Syringe (Photo credit: joeflintham)

Similarly, Google Inc. has created the only platform equipped to synthesize the great expanse of medical data currently available, and tailor that information to meet medical needs. This massive information platform will lead to the standardization of healthcare, resulting in a greater ability to meet real-time individual medical needs. Google’s innovations will trigger the next shift.

Google Glass (hereafter referred to as Glass), is a small device that will change the face of healthcare, literally. Already, through the Glass Explorer Program, these reality-augmenting headsets have been put to use in the medical sphere, and the results were far from disappointing. To say that the use of Glass in medicine is promising would be an equivocation. Already, a year before the headset’s rumored release a variety of medical apps for Glass are being developed.

Imagine this, doctors will be able to pre-load their Glass with scans of their patients X-rays, medical history, and all sort useful imagery. Royal and have already jointly demonstrated a prototype of a system that allows surgeons to view vital signs on the Glass display while performing operations. Glass will be a useful diagnostic tool once apps for the detection of minuscule dental cavities and complicated surgical procedures. Moreover, the utilization of Glass in the healthcare space will standardize the quality of care for patients. Google glass allows medical practitioners to all have access to the same information, and grants doctors the ability to quickly communicate with other doctors if they believe a second opinion is warranted. But Glass is far from Google’s only contribution to the health care industry.

The Google search has evolved significantly. It has for some time has not been a lexicon of words, but an actionable tool -- it has become a legitimate vehicle for immediate health care action. Already, its search engine has provided the internet accessibility which paved the way for websites like WebMD (NASD: WBMD). According to WebMD Health's 2012 annual report, in that year the WebMD Health Network reached an average of approximately 110 million monthly unique visitors, a 29% increase from 2011. It has become the norm that if a person with a question is in need of an answer, they need only “Google it.” Similarly, it has become the norm that if a person is experiencing symptoms of illness, they “WebMD it.” The implications of this deceptively casual phrase are far-reaching.

However, it has become exceedingly demonstrative of the Internet, and in particular Google, in its ability to handle significant medical decisions. Google has the very unique ability to act as a collection vehicle - that is the ability to gather and collect data in real time.

Google’s distinct, and far-reaching ability to gather data is what sets them apart from other innovators. This is demonstrated by Google’s fluency in identifying specific search words that correlate with flu activity, which Google presents on the Google Flu Trends page. When search-result data from a particular region of the country shows a spike in searches for these words or symptoms, this real time data collection

CDC technician dons an positive-pressure suit. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

becomes invaluable for epidemiologists and government agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), who work to monitor the spread of disease. As a result those working to monitor outbreaks of disease can be one step ahead. By tracking medically relevant Google search statistics and the search result demographics of WebMD we will have a real-time and robust data set of topics and trends which represent the actual U.S. population more closely than any other information gathering method to date. In this way, Google’s data collection vehicle can be a powerful tool for global, national, and local health.

The maximization of Google Glass in the healthcare space, combined with the vast expanse of information that can be accessed via Google’s powerful search engine will ultimately lead to the standardization of healthcare. Again, paradigm shifts are usually referred to as anomalies until they become widespread enough for general recognition and acceptance. If you don’t believe it, just Google it.

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