Google launches new feature ‘Symptom Search’ for medical conditions

New Delhi: In a bid to make it easier for patients to understand their medical symptoms and improve the quality of search results, Google on Tuesday rolled out a new feature called ‘Symptom Search’. With the latest update, users can now find quality information around various medical symptoms, right on their mobile devices.

Starting this week, Google will be adding information about commonly searched symptoms. So, when a user searches for symptoms like “cough and pain”, the app will show a list of related conditions (“common cold, acute bronchitis, flu, pneumonia, chest infection”). For individual symptoms like “sardard (headache)” the app will show digital cards providing users an overview description along with information on self-treatment options and what might warrant a doctor’s visit.

Roughly 1% of searches on Google are symptom-related. By doing this, Google aims to help users navigate and explore health conditions related to various symptoms, and quickly get to the point where they can talk to a health professional or do more in-depth research on the web.

To make sure the information is tailored to India, Google has been working closely with a team of medical doctors at Apollo Hospitals.

“The abundant experience and expertise of our consultants was drawn towards providing clinical validation of the symptoms to spread the message of awareness and prevention of diseases. With the launch of the Symptom Search Project, we aim to provide quality healthcare information which can be accessed by a billion Indians,” Sangita Reddy, joint managing director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd.