| In August, Google announced that Gemini users can now book appointments with Zocdoc. The news came not long after Solv said it’s
partnering with Amazon Health AI to help people book in-person urgent care appointments. |
| These partnerships feel distinct from the typical ways health tech companies have shown up in Google’s search results and also different from having general AI chatbots field questions about an individual’s health. Working with Zocdoc, Gemini is now going from simply providing health information to facilitating an action: booking a doctor’s appointment. |
| “There's this huge problem of how do you actually get into the doctor's office and out of the chatbot?” Google’s Chief Health Officer Michael Howell told me. “That's the problem that we're trying to solve, as opposed to an SEO problem.” |
| Howell gave me a demo: He pulled up Gemini and tagged Zocdoc in a message box, writing that he’d chipped his tooth. Right away, time slots popped up for dentists with availability to tackle the problem over the next week. |
| We’re hearing a lot of pitches these days about companies trying to have AI take on more clinical work on behalf of providers, creating a bigger supply of healthcare visits. But Howell and Zocdoc CEO Oliver Kharraz were more focused on matching prospective patients with providers who are already available. |
| “One of the contrarian insights on which Zocdoc rests is actually that there is hidden capacity in the system,” Kharraz said. |
| There’s evidence that consumers are becoming more engaged with their healthcare through AI chatbots. Creating ways to book appointments is a logical step for an AI assistant like Gemini. |
| As AI companies look to become even more involved in people’s healthcare, it’ll be interesting to see what consumers are willing to let them help with — and where the limit lies. |
| - Lydia |
