Google Injects USD 100 Million and Automated Translation Into Telehealth

谷歌向远程医疗送达1亿美元和自动翻译

2020-09-07 17:10 slator

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Google is betting on telehealth as the next frontier for its natural language processing (NLP) and translation services. The stakes are high: On August 24, 2020, Google Cloud announced a USD 100m investment and multiyear partnership with US telehealth platform Amwell, which filed for an IPO on the same day. Amwell will now migrate its video capabilities to Google Cloud. According to the press release on the investment, “Google Cloud and Amwell see an opportunity to improve patient and clinician telehealth experiences through technologies that […] provide automated language translation services.” Founded in 2006 as American Well by Israeli brothers Ido and Ray Schoenberg, Amwell’s telehealth platform connects healthcare providers with patients who have “acute care needs that don’t require a trip to the emergency room.” Users can browse services by speciality or practice name and only see services from providers licensed in their state. (Amwell Medical Group providers also see patients on Amwell partner platforms, including major health systems and hospitals across the US.) Amwell’s selling points reflect this moment in American healthcare history. The company boasts 24/7/365 service; patients without insurance can pay privately for services; all participating physicians are Board-certified; and — especially attractive during the coronavirus pandemic — “no more germy waiting rooms.” Prior to Google’s investment, Amwell already had partnerships with some big names, including CVS Health, Walgreens, and Philips. That said, medical care provided remotely has its limits. For patients they treat via Amwell, physicians cannot order lab tests, prescribe certain medications, or fill out complex medical documents that require in-person evaluation. Although the company aims to soon make its services available worldwide, Amwell currently only operates in the US. The platform’s linguistic offerings are similarly restricted. Amwell’s website states that “all virtual doctor visits provider groups offer some Spanish-speaking physicians, although not in all states.” An August 24, 2020 Google Cloud blog post described how Google Cloud might be integrated into the Amwell platform: “A conversational chatbot agent is immediately available to assist you, in your preferred language, by asking about your symptoms and the reason for your visit, and provides this information to your physician before she enters your virtual exam room. During your appointment, you continue to speak in your preferred language to your physician, while cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) provides live, translated captioning of the conversation.” Citing an SEC-mandated quiet period, Amwell declined to comment on how it has supported patients with limited English proficiency up until now; so it is unclear whether the company has ever used virtual remote interpreting (VRI). The coronavirus pandemic has, so far, been a boon to VRI providers, particularly those operating in healthcare settings. Cloudbreak Health, whose offerings include its proprietary Martti system for remote interpreting, raised USD 10m in late February 2020, just as the pandemic was on an upswing globally. Minutes billed by Stratus Video, meanwhile, exceeded pre-Covid-19 levels by late June 2020, according to owner AMN Healthcare’s Q2 2020 results (SlatorPro). And LanguageLine is reportedly “growing dramatically” from increased demand for VRI and the US government’s emergency March 2020 expansion of Medicare coverage for telehealth services.
谷歌在与远程医疗赌一把,将其作为自然语言处理(NLP)和翻译服务的下一个前沿领域。其实风险巨大:2020年8月24号,谷歌云宣布与美国远程医疗平台Amwell进行1亿美元投资项目并建立多年合作关系,并且美国远程医疗平台在当天提交了IPO申请。 Amwell现在将视频功能迁移到谷歌云上。根据有关投资的新闻稿报道,“谷歌云和Amwell瞄准机会,通过[…]提供自动化语言翻译服务的技术来改善患者和临床医生的远程健康体验。” Amwell的远程保健平台于2006年由以色列兄弟Ido和Ray Schoenberg创立,名为American Well,该平台将医疗保健提供者与“不需要去急诊室的急症护理需求”的患者相互连接。 用户可以按专业或业务名称浏览服务器,并且只能看到在其所在州获得许可的提供商所提供的服务。(Amwell医疗集团提供商还在Amwell合作伙伴平台上为患者看病,包括美国各地的主要卫生系统和医院。) Amwell的卖点反映了美国医疗保健史上的重大时刻。公司拥有24/7/365服务;没有购买保险的病人可以私下支付服务费用;所有参与的医生都获得委员会的认证;尤其是在冠状病毒大流行期间--“不再有充满细菌的候诊室”。 Amwell在谷歌投资之前就与一些大公司建立了合作关系,包括CVS Health,Walgreens和飞利浦。尽管如此,远程医疗也有其局限性。 对于通过Amwell治疗的患者,医生不能要求这些患者进行实验室检查,给他们开某些药物处方,或者让他们填写需要亲自评估的复杂医疗文件。尽管Amwell公司旨在尽快在全球范围内提供服务,但目前该公司只在美国开展业务。 该平台的语言服务也受到类似限制。Amwell的网站上称,“尽管不覆盖所有的州,虚拟医生访问提供者团体都会提供一些说西班牙语的医生。” 谷歌云2020年8月24号的一篇博文描述如何将谷歌云自身整合到Amwell平台中:“一个会话聊天机器人代理可以立即用你喜欢的语言帮助你,询问你的症状和就诊原因,并在医生进入你的虚拟检查室之前将这些信息提供给她。你可以在预约期间继续用自己喜欢的语言与医生交谈,而基于云端的人工智能(AI)则提供实时翻译的对话字幕。“ Amwell引用了美国证交会规定的静默期,到目前为止都拒绝评论该平台是如何支持英语能力有限的患者;因此,目前还不清楚该公司是否曾经使用过虚拟远程口译(VRI)。 截至目前,冠状病毒大流行对虚拟远程口译提供商来说是一个福音,尤其是那些在医疗保健环境中运作的机构。Cloudbreak Health公司的产品包括其专有的Martti远程口译系统,当时全球疫情正呈上升趋势,该公司就在2020年2月底筹集了1000万美元。 与此同时,根据其所有者AMN Healthcare的2020年第二季度业绩(SlatorPro),Stratus Video的收费分钟数在2020年6月底超过了Covid-19之前的水平。据报道,虚拟远程口译的需求增加,以及美国政府在2020年3月紧急扩大医疗保险对远程医疗服务的覆盖范围,因此LanguageLine正在“急剧增长”。

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