Google wants to make it easier for you to book your doctor’s appointment. The US-based tech giant has announced to show the next available appointment with a health care provider on search.
“Whether you put off your annual check-up, recently moved and need a new doctor, or are looking for a same-day visit to a MinuteClinic at CVS, you might see available appointment dates and times for doctors in your area,” an official blog post explained.
Google is said to be working closely with MinuteClinic at CVS and other unnamed appointment schedulers during the initial rollout, which is said to begin in the coming weeks. Product manager Jackie DeJesse said that booking a doctor’s appointment via search will be available in English, to begin with.
“While we’re still in the early stages of rolling this feature out, we’re working with partners, including MinuteClinic at CVS and other scheduling solution providers. We hope to expand features, functionality, and our network of partners so we can make it easier for people to get the care they need,” Chief Health Officer, Google, Dr. Karen DeSalvo noted in the official blog.
So, if a user searches for a doctor or a health provider’s office, Google will show information like — types of appointments available, the date of the earliest appointment, and even a “book” button. The book option will take the user to a third-party site to make an appointment.
The tech giant said that the feature will be initially available for the US market only. There are no reports yet on whether the feature will be available in India or not. However, since India has been one of the most important markets for Google and it usually brings most of its search features to the country, it is possible that we will get this one too.
Additionally, Google brings health features to YouTube as well. The video streaming platform has announced to add health source information panels on videos that will “provide context that helps viewers identify videos from authoritative sources, and health content shelves that more effectively highlight videos from these sources when people search for specific health topics. These context cues help people easily navigate and evaluate credible health information”. The feature will begin to roll out starting this week in Japan, Brazil, and India.
