Google and Drive Health improve maternal health outcomes with AI

To address healthcare gaps and improve maternal health outcomes, Drive Health and Google Public Sector announced a partnership with the State of Illinois to launch Healthy Baby, a pilot program in rural Cook County that provides Google Pixel phones, Fitbit devices, and Google Cloud technologies to expectant mothers that enable access to Drive Health's AI-powered Nurse Avery.

The United States is facing a maternal healthcare crisis, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Research shows that more than 80% of maternal deaths are preventable (CDC 2022) and that babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are five times more likely to die (Office on Women's Health 2021). The multi-year pilot between Drive Health, Google, and Cook County will engage more than 56,000 participants, aiming to achieve key clinical objectives that include reduced mortality, improved birth weights, and more full-term pregnancies.

In addition to improving access to maternal health, this initiative will enhance community-based care and timely interventions, which will help reduce healthcare costs.

Expectant mothers in vulnerable populations face significant health disparities with only a quarter of high-risk mothers on Medicaid receiving consistent prenatal care. Behavioral health conditions also go undiagnosed or untreated in up to 40% of pregnant women in Medicaid populations. In Illinois, a third of counties are considered maternal care deserts and over 90% of hospitals are designated mental health care shortages, which often contributes to poor maternal outcomes.

Drive Health's Nurse Avery, an agentic AI health assistant, is the cornerstone of the pilot, helping bridge the gap between providers and patients, optimizing more effective in-person care. Women in Cook County considering family planning, expectant mothers, and mothers with children under three years old are eligible to participate in the pilot. Participants receive a Google Pixel 8a phone to communicate with Avery and a Fitbit Inspire 3 device, complete with simple instructions and ongoing support.

With user consent, the Fitbit device will not only track participants' physical activity, but also monitor their heart health and sleep data. Drive Health will then bring the data into its platform, offering personalized recommendations tailored to each mother-to-be's unique needs. All this happens within a HIPAA-compliant infrastructure and on devices that prioritize the user's privacy and security. Google Pixel phone's flexible management model ensures that participants have seamless access to all necessary Drive Health resources, while keeping the information on their personal profiles private and secure – ensuring they get the support they need without compromising their personal data.

Avery engages patients proactively, offering reminders, answering common questions, and prompting care plan adherence. Available services on the platform include:

Nutritional support and folic acid intake coordination: Avery provides nutritional guidance to ensure sufficient folic acid intake critical for healthy fetal development.

Vaccination updates: The AI health assistant is able to coordinate with healthcare providers to ensure timely vaccinations.

Chronic disease management: Nurse Avery provides regular consultations and tips for managing chronic conditions like diabetes.

Mental health and stress management: The platform offers accessible mental health resources.

Genetic risk assessment: The platform offers lab-based genetic screenings to identify risks early on to support the development of personalized care plans.

The platform is designed with accessibility in mind, including voice-command options for those with limited technical abilities. Built with Google Cloud's infrastructure, the system prioritizes patient data security by adhering to state and federal data security and privacy guidelines, ensuring the protection of patient information.