The news: Google Cloud launched Gemini for healthcare in preview, an agentic AI solution designed to connect fragmented clinical, billing, and administrative data for providers and insurers. Early adopters include HCA Healthcare, Highmark Health, and Northwell Health.

Using data connectors, it integrates across third-party systems like Epic, Oracle Health, and GoodRx, among many others. Organizations can build custom skills for specific workflows. In a demo referenced in Fortune, the AI cross-referenced a patient’s Epic medical history with an external specialist's report in seconds, automatically surfacing previously undocumented lab results and an allergy while citing its sources.

Why it matters: Google says Gemini for healthcare targets a longstanding problem— data scattered across disconnected healthcare systems that organizations stitch together with costly patchwork solutions. Administrative costs account for roughly 25% to 35% of total US healthcare spending, according to the American Hospital Association.

Clinicians shoulder some of this burden, and AI is starting to ease it. Some 71% of physicians report improved workflow efficiency and 64% cite reduced time spent on administrative tasks when asked how AI is improving patient care, per a June Philips survey.

Google isn’t alone in developing AI solutions for healthcare operations. Major cloud providers Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, established healthcare technology and EHR vendors, and specialized startups are all building AI for healthcare operations. Gemini for healthcare’s partnerships with some of these players signal that Google wants to connect their tools rather than replace them.

Implications for AI companies: Agentic AI represents the next phase of healthcare AI adoption, shifting from tools that assist with individual tasks to systems that can coordinate and execute multistep workflows.

In a fragmented market where organizations struggle to connect disparate AI tools, serving as an orchestration layer for other healthcare solutions could give Google an advantage. Integrating with existing systems could let Google expand its reach without requiring customers to adopt entirely new infrastructure.

For startups and specialized healthcare AI vendors, integration with Gemini for healthcare could provide access to more enterprise customers. But as Google takes on more workflow coordination, these vendors may face pressure to differentiate their offerings while becoming increasingly dependent on Google for customer access.