Verily Launches Free Consumer Health App to Put AI-Powered Insights in Users’ Hands

Verily, a precision health company owned by tech giant Alphabet, launched a new consumer app on Friday. The app, called Verily Me, is available to anyone with a mobile device — no insurance, employer coverage or subscription needed.

Verily Me enables users to view their healthcare data all in one place, allows them to track their meals, provides personalized suggestions and gives them 24/7 access to health-focused chatbot.

To get onboarded, users must begin by going through a brief identity verification process, which involves taking a picture of their ID and snapping a selfie. They must also consent to Verily’s HIPAA-compliant data access.

Once this is complete, the app retrieves the user’s medical records from multiple sources — including various providers’ EHRs and health information exchanges — with no manual portal logins or password entry required, explained Myoung Cha, Verily’s chief product officer.

This data can span up to 20 years of records, including labs, medications, vaccinations and provider notes, he noted. The app can also integrate data from wearables like Oura rings or Apple Watches if a user chooses.

When designing the app, Verily focused on reducing friction — knowing a key barrier to success for past digital health platforms was that users had to log in to multiple portals manually, Cha pointed out. 

Verily Me seeks to help users keep track of their health on a day-to-day basis. For instance, users can take photos of their meals, which the app’s AI can then identify and annotate with calorie and nutrient estimates, Cha said.

Additionally, the app gives users personalized health recommendations for things like preventive health screenings or blood pressure monitoring. These suggestions come from licensed clinicians employed by Verily’s partner medical group.

“[They have] served Verily patients for years under the Onduo program, largely for intensive diabetes management. It’s a group that’s licensed in all 50 states, and it’s a multidisciplinary team led by clinicians — primary care and specialists, endocrinologists, along with dietitians, coaches and pharmacists,” Cha remarked.

Overall, he said that Verily Me aims to shift healthcare from episodic and reactive to proactive and preventive. In doing so, patients will be more aware of their health status before they get sick.

Users of the app can also chat with Violet, Verily’s proprietary healthcare chatbot, Cha added.

“Unlike consumer LLMs like ChatGPT, our agent has the ability to access and integrate into the context window of your health data. It really can answer questions about your health data in a really personal and private way,” Cha stated.

For instance, a user can ask Violet something along the lines of, “Explain my cholesterol trends since starting statins,” and expect an accurate, personalized answer with the data to back it up, he explained.

He noted that Verily has made sure that this agent does not provide medical advice — but rather contextualizes data to improve users’ understanding of their health.

Consumer health products and platforms from recognizable brands like Apple or Fitbit have been able to attract customers, but it remains to be seen what the Verily Me app’s usage rates will look like given that Verily is not as much as a recognizable brand across consumers.

Cha said that Verily plans to initially promote the app to people who have previously participated in Verily studies — a group that spans hundreds of thousands of people. The company also plans to promote Verily Me to existing patients enrolled in Onduo, its virtual chronic care program, as well as Lightpath, its enterprise care platform.

Over time and as awareness grows, Verily plans to expand outreach to a broader consumer audience, Cha stated.

Photo: MoMo Productions