Google FAQs

Starting in 2024, you will be prompted to add your payment information before you schedule a virtual primary care, therapy or psychiatry visit with Included Health. While the visit itself will still be free, there will now be a fee for scheduled appointments that are missed or not canceled 24 hours in advance.

Health+, powered by Included Health’s team of providers are US-based and board-certified doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who have on average 15 years of experience. They come from a variety of backgrounds and specialties and have an average patient rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars on our app. Our caring providers are trained on best practices for providing care online, and take the time to get to know you and find out what’s most important to you.

The Healthcare Professionals who deliver Services through Included Health are independent professionals practicing within a group of independently owned professional practices collectively known as “Doctor On Demand Professionals”. In claims and billing related to the virtual care we provide to you, you may see “Doctor On Demand” appear as the vendor. For any questions related to claims or billing, contact your Health+ Concierge by visiting includedhealth.com/google or calling 1-855-431-5540.

Yes, Health+, powered by Included Health services are available for children of any age as well, including urgent care, chronic condition management including asthma and allergies, and behavioral healthcare. However, Included Health does not offer pediatric well-child visits because these visits require growth and developmental measurements as well as vaccine administration. Find a high-quality pediatrician for well-child visits using Included Health or by connecting with your Health+ Concierge.

While child dependents 13-18 years old are able to create their own accounts, parents or legal guardians must book any virtual care appointment for children under the age of 18 and will need to be present at the beginning of the visit. To learn more or schedule a visit visit includedhealth.com/google. You can also chat with your Health+ Concierge for assistance using the Included Health app or by calling 1-855-431-5540. 

You will receive a note from your provider in your “Me” section of the app in less than 48 hours with a summary of your visit and key next steps you discussed during your visit. Your dedicated Health+ Concierge will also reach out to see if you have any questions. If necessary, your provider may send you for lab work or imaging (e.g. x-rays) and write or refill prescriptions for pickup at your local pharmacy or sent to your home.  If a follow-up visit with your doctor is recommended, you will receive a notification to schedule in the app. If you have questions at any time about the care you received or what do to next, message your dedicated Health+ Concierge using the Included Health app, by visiting includedhealth.com/google, or calling 1-855-431-5540.

Your Health+, powered by Included Health doctor will provide a recommendation, then a member of our Health+ Concierge team will help refer you to a nearby provider and, with your permission, provide your documentation to the provider’s office. Your Health+ Concierge can also share your documentation for you to bring to your appointment.

Included Health currently does not have the ability to order standing/future labs for you. Your Health+ Concierge monitors this and works with the physician to place the needed orders on a regular basis when they are due.

The process for each is similar to what you’d expect when going to see a doctor in person. Here’s how it works:

If your Included Health provider recommends that you see a specialist or need to see a doctor in person, they will review those recommendations with you during your visit.

The provider’s recommended order will be automatically sent to your Health+ Concierge who will follow up with you within 1-2 business days to gather any additional information needed.  Your Health+ Concierge will contact you with recommendations for nearby, high-quality providers that are within your plan network. Your Health+ Concierge can also help you schedule an appointment or give you the provider’s contact information so you can schedule directly with an in-person clinician. A Health+ Concierge will also provide you with any documentation you’ll need to bring to your appointment.

You’ll receive an email confirmation that your provider has made this recommendation(s) for a referral. You’ll be able to view any pending referrals within the app as well as receive ongoing updates on the status of your referrals. 

After you’ve seen the specialist, a copy of your documentation can be shared with your primary care provider who will review the findings and recommendations, and if needed, they will schedule a follow-up appointment with you so that you can review the results together and create a treatment plan that’s personalized and appropriate for you.

The process for each is similar to what you’d expect when going to see a doctor in person. Here’s how it works:

If your Health+, powered by Included Health primary care provider orders imaging for you, they will review their recommendations with you during your visit.

Following your visit, you’ll be contacted by a member of your Health+ Concierge team who will help you find an affordable and convenient location within your plan network for you to get the imaging done.

A member of the Health+ Concierge team will help you schedule any necessary appointments and provide you with documentation to bring with you to the imaging center.

Once the imaging center generates a report with the results, the results will be sent to us to review. Your primary care provider will then contact you with information about what the results mean and if any further action or follow up is necessary.

In addition to continuing to ensure our third parties are fulfilling their contractual obligation to meet the high bar that Benefits set when it comes to our privacy and security standards, Benefits also focuses on providing more transparency upfront for those eligible employees considering Google health plan enrollment. In addition to employees being able to access policies that pertain to permissibility of data sharing (go/benefitdocuments), Benefits includes a disclaimer within the go/gBenefits enrollment tool so attention to data sharing practices and policies are more clearly understood and timely surfaced when an employee makes an enrollment decision. Additional efforts are underway such as making third party privacy policies more easily accessible internally and other initiatives to reduce non-critical eligibility data from being passed to suppliers.

Benefits, through the Google LLC Welfare Benefit Plan (Plan), contracts with third party health suppliers to administer our health plans for employees and covered dependents that meet the Plan’s eligibility criteria and choose to participate. The Plan is governed by ERISA federal law and its health plans are subject to HIPAA. Also, all third party suppliers that work with Google are required to meet our standard security and privacy contract terms. In this case, third party suppliers that receive, create, maintain, use and/or disclose protected health information and perform various functions on the Plan’s behalf to administer the health plan, are required to additionally agree to our standard HIPAA business associate terms, which adds an additional layer of safeguards regarding our health plan participant’s protected health information.

When employees choose to enroll themselves and their covered dependents as participants in a Google health plan (i.e. Anthem), the Plan is permitted, under Google’s Employee Privacy Policy, to share certain enrollment information with its third party suppliers responsible for administering the health plan benefit. The Plan is also permitted, by law, to use or disclose their individually identifiable health information it possesses, handles or maintains in certain ways, such as for the treatment, for payment, for health care operations, to Business Associates, etc. The complete set of rules that govern how the health plan may use this information is described in the Plan’s HIPAA Privacy Notice, which can be found at go/benefitdocuments. Furthermore, the Plan’s third party suppliers also have their own information privacy policies that govern the specific supplier’s use of a health plan participant’s information.

Account deletion requests can be initiated with Included Health directly. 

You have the right to request that Included Health delete any personal information for you or your child dependents, subject to exceptions set forth by the law. For example, we cannot delete information that explains medical treatment decisions, as we are legally obligated to keep such information. If no legal exception applies, as a result of exercising your right, we will delete your personal information and direct any of our service providers to do so.

To initiate an account deletion request, please send a message to your Health+ Concierge using the Included Health app, call us at 1-855-431-5540, or sending an email to privacy@includedhealth.com. 

Due to the fact that core health plan operating services, such as clinical and non-clinical support, has been fully transitioned from Anthem to Included Health to provide health plan participants with more comprehensive, efficient, streamlined health plans experience, the ability for Google health plan participants to opt-out of third party data sharing, as permitted under HIPAA, isn’t supported. As such, to opt-out of all Health+ data sharing, you would need to unenroll from a Google health plan. To note, unenrolling in a health plan can only be done either during Open Enrollment (effective Jan 1st) or mid-year if you experience a qualifying family status change (FSC).

Certain clinical services and records releases tied to them, such as Expert Medical Opinion and Virtual Care, are opt-in only. You may also choose to opt-out of unnecessary third-party cookies through a banner on the landing page, engagement emails as well as surveys.

Included Health is required to protect health data maintained in accordance with HIPAA (see Google’s HIPAA Privacy Notice, which can be found at go/benefitdocuments). Included Health cannot share personally identifiable health data with any third party (including Google) without your express permission, or as permitted by law, such as HIPAA. Personal information that you provide to Included Health will only be shared under conditions as outlined in their Privacy Policy. For questions related to this policy or to ensure you are accessing the latest version, please contact Included Health directly.

As such, Google will not have access to your personal health information. For purposes of informing program outcomes and strategy, select People Operations individuals will only have access to de-identified reporting data on a need to know basis, such as those responsible for managing vendor or program performance, through secure sharing methods. You can find more information on Google’s employee privacy policy here.

Any personal health information you share with Included Health is held confidentially and will not be shared, unless authorized by you, or where legally permissible and/or required under applicable law.

The last four digits of your SSN are needed to confirm both your identity when creating an account and your eligibility for the Health+, powered by Included Health, benefit. If unable to provide this information, you may also use your health insurance member ID.

Benefits’ first priority is to work with the most feature-rich supplier that’s vetted by a rigorous market evaluation process, but that also passes our security, privacy, and accessibility bar and commits to continuous improvements along these dimensions. In this instance, Benefits is partnering with a company focused entirely on delivering best-in-class virtual care, dedicated real-time health plan and care coordination, and self-service care navigation resources. This enables us to deliver a comprehensive solution to address a long-time need and increase quality and equity in healthcare for our health plan participants. Moreover, using a third party allows us to avoid unnecessary Google access to your sensitive health data, and also frees up our engineering teams to focus on developing and improving internal apps that are unique to Google.

Included Health uses geolocation to ensure a match between the member and the provider who is licensed to serve them. While other similar services may not require location services to be turned on, Included Health takes a more prudent step to protect both their providers and users to ensure that providers are able to practice medicine in the location that a member is in.

Unless otherwise specified, all Personal Data (as defined under the GDPR) requested is mandatory and your choice to not provide such Personal Data may make it impossible to provide services to you. In cases where we have made clear that some Personal Data is not mandatory, you are free not to communicate this Personal Data without any consequences on the availability or the functioning of the service.  For more detail, please view the Included Health privacy policy here.

Health+ powered by Included Health retains personal information, subject to this Policy, only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which the data was collected and processed. 

Data collected for the provision of services is retained for the longer of as needed to provide services; as specified in a relevant agreement (e.g., with your Plan); or as otherwise required, including by applicable law or regulation.

Where Personal Data is processed subject to the General Data Protection Regulation, such Personal Data collected for the purposes of our legitimate interests shall be retained as long as needed to fulfill such purposes, including but not limited to retention of records of completed services as required by law, regulation and healthcare practice and for the other reasons.  For more detail, please view the Included Health privacy policy here.

Furthermore, we may be obliged to retain Personal Data for a longer period whenever required to do so for the performance of a legal obligation (including but not limited to retention of records of healthcare services performed or recommended) or upon order of an authority.

Included Health does collect from Google information regarding covered members of all ages, so that they may know who is eligible to receive services. 

Children under 13 years old will be on the primary benefit holder’s account. Dependents 13 years or older will need to create a separate account that they can use to log in themselves. Simply visit includedhealth.com/google and provide us with a few details including an email address, a password, the child’s first and last name, the last four numbers of their Social Security Number OR your health insurance member ID OR your individual taxpayer identification number. We request this information to verify which Included Health services they are eligible for, to communicate with them regarding their account, and to facilitate the functioning of certain services. 

While child dependents 13-18 years old are able to create their own accounts, parents or legal guardians must book any virtual care appointment for children under the age of 18 and will need to be present at the beginning of the visit. To learn more or schedule a visit visit includedhealth.com/google. You can also chat with your Health+ Concierge for assistance using the Included Health app or by calling 1-855-431-5540.

You have the right to request that Included Health delete any personal information for you or your child dependents, subject to exceptions set forth by the law. For example, we cannot delete information that explains medical treatment decisions, as we are legally obligated to keep such information. If no legal exception applies, as a result of exercising your right, we will delete your personal information and direct any of our service providers to do so.

Included Health will not process any requests for children under 13 years of age without verifiable consent from their parents or legal guardian. A parent or legal guardian may request that they stop processing that information if eligible under CCPA or GDPR.

Deleting an account may come with significant limitations to accessing support and certain care services connected to your Google health plan experience.

With the transition of support from Anthem to Health+, powered by Included Health (see go/Health+ for more information), Anthem sent an email notification to help inform you that you may now access an updated version of your Anthem ID card with the Included Health contact information. To access a digital copy of your new Anthem ID card, you can log in to the Anthem portal and click on “Your ID Card”. The back of the ID card will have the new Included Health contact, which you can use going forward for support related to Anthem or any other Google healthcare benefit questions/issues.

To note, Anthem will mail you a new physical ID card toward the end of December for the 2023 plan year. For additional questions, contact your dedicated Health+ Concierge at Included Health by visiting includedhealth.com/google or calling 1-855-431-5540.

This Privacy Policy only addresses the use and disclosure of certain information Included Health collects from or about you. You should be aware that when you are using our services, you can be directed to other websites that are beyond our control, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties or the content of linked websites. We encourage you to read the posted privacy policy whenever interacting with any website.

If you are registered, you may submit a message through the “chat” experience once logged-in,  managing your account profile, or contacting us at:

Included Health, Inc., Privacy Officer
1 California Street, Ste. 2300
San Francisco, CA 94111

You may email us at privacy@includedhealth.com. 

Or you may call our general support toll free line at 1-855-431-5533

To help protect the privacy of data you transmit through us, where personally identifiable information is requested, Included Health also uses technology designed to encrypt the information that you input before it is sent to us using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology or similar encryption technology. In addition, we take steps to protect the user data we collect against unauthorized access. 

Health+ powered by Included Health will not share, rent, sell or otherwise disclose any of the personally identifiable information that we collect about you, except when we have your permission or in any of the following situations:

• If you have requested a service, we may use information about you to fulfill such requests (including providing that information to third parties such as your local specialist). We may also at any time review your case, your medical records from prior to and after your interaction with us, and any records created as a result of services received. We may share information about you, your care, and your use of services to your healthcare payor as necessary or on your request. We may request courtesy notices from your treating physician(s) and/or request additional medical records from them, including records pertaining to care you received after receiving the services. We may review these records for, among other purposes, reviewing the quality of service you received, reviewing the quality of service provided by the physicians and medical professionals treating you (including the physicians and medical professionals to whom you may have received a referral), to better understand the course of treatment for your condition(s) including information regarding outcomes and costs, and to improve treatments and recommendations for people with similar or different conditions. We will take care to minimize personally identifying information in this process. 
• Included Health may disclose information about you as required and only up to what is permissible under HIPAA, such as personally identifying information like your name and address for healthcare operational purposes such as to provide available services to you; to coordinate with your insurance; to enforce your rights; to protect against actual or potential fraud; to resolve your inquiries or disputes; to receive payments; to carry out our business; to protect the confidentiality or security of your records; to administer preventive health and case management programs; to perform auditing and ratemaking functions; to comply with federal or state laws and other applicable legal requirements.
• We may disclose your information, to the extent permitted by law, in court or in the stages leading to possible legal action arising from improper use of this website, application or services, or due to a dispute you initiate in connection with the related services. Moreover, we may be legally obligated to disclose information about you to the government or to third parties under certain circumstances, such as in connection with illegal activity on our Sites or to respond to a subpoena, court order or other legal process. We reserve the right to release information that we collect to law enforcement or other government officials, as we, in our sole and absolute discretion, deem necessary, appropriate or as required under law, such as your statement to hurt yourself or others.

We may also disclose your personal information to third parties when you explicitly ask or authorize us to do so, in order to provide you with our service.

If you use our sites or services outside of the United States, information that we collect about you will be transferred to servers inside the United States, which may involve the transfer of information out of countries located in the European Economic Area. By allowing us to collect information about you, you consent to such transfer and processing of your data.  For more detail, please view the Included Health privacy policy here.

The following describes the types of personal and other information Included Health may collect about you, and how we use and maintain that information, including, but not limited to:

• Eligibility, claims, medical history, and other employer data. Data Included Health receives from Google’s 3rd party eligibility vendor lets them know if you are eligible for benefits and what health care services your Google provided insurance has paid for in the past. This includes personally identifying information as well as data from health insurance carriers. This may include your name, email address, phone number, service eligibility data, carrier membership data, and claims data, and information used to verify your identity (such as birthday, the last four numbers of your Social Security Number, and/or employee ID number). This information allows Included Health to help you navigate to the right health care resources in your medical plan and/or benefits 
• Registration. Before you can utilize certain services that we offer, we may ask that you register and provide us with your personal email address, a password, your first and last name. We request this information for identification purposes, to communicate with you regarding your account, and to facilitate the functioning of certain services. 
• Surveys. At various points in your member experience with us, you’ll be presented with optional surveys intended to measure your Service experience in some way. 
• Medical records. In order for Included Health to provide care and/or optional second expert medical opinions from medical professionals regarding your health, they may require past and current medical records, description of symptoms, a medical history and life-style descriptions. As part of the process to start an expert medical opinion, you will be asked to sign a consent form to allow Included Health to have access to your medical records. You will be prompted when you need to sign this form.
• Correspondence. If you correspond with us, including postal, email, in-app chat or messaging, phone, or video, we may retain those records in compliance with HIPAA requirements and as required by law.
• Technical information and usage information. Like many other websites, we collect information about users’ devices (such as browser and device types, device identification numbers, or other online identifiers) and users’ utilization and navigation of our Sites. This information helps us to design our Sites to better suit our users’ needs. 
• Information collected with cookies. Like most major websites, we use cookies on certain pages of our Sites. The information that we collect with cookies allows us to improve our marketing and promotional efforts, to statistically analyze Sites’ usage, to improve our content and product offerings and to customize our Sites’ content, layout and services. 

We use your personal information to allow us to render services to you, the operational functioning of our services and features thereof (all together, “business purposes”). For more detail, please view the Included Health privacy policy here.

If your treatment includes a prescription, the provider will review the order and confirm your pharmacy during the visit. The provider will then electronically order the prescription, and it will be ready for you to pick up once your pharmacy prepares your medication. You can select your preferred pharmacy anytime in the Included Health app. Depending on the type of prescription, you might also be able to receive refills. For questions, concerns, or issues with your prescription, you can always contact your dedicated Health+ Concierge for support by sending them a message in the Included Health app, by visiting includedhealth.com/google, or by calling 1-855-431-5540.

During your visit, if the provider thinks a lab test would be beneficial for you, they can order a lab test. You simply visit the lab location, have the specimen collected, and the results will be sent to you from Health+ powered by Included Health within ten business days.

After your visit, your visit summary will include a reminder to schedule your next appointment if your Health+ powered by Included Health provider needs to see you regarding your lab results. Your Health+ Concierge may also contact you to schedule your next visit. The lab results will also be available for you to review under “My Health” in the app.

Included Health currently does not have the ability to order standing/future labs for you. Your Health+ Concierge monitors this and works with the physician to place the needed orders on a regular basis when they are due.

To have records sent from your specialist contact your dedicated Health+ Concierge for assistance either through the messaging tool within the Included Health app, on includedhealth.com/google, or by calling 1-855-431-5540. You can also upload your records using the Included Health app or by faxing them to us at 1-800-238-6575. 

In addition to your primary care provider, you will be assigned a dedicated Health+ Concierge who is available to assist with any additional questions you may have outside of your visit. Contact your dedicated Health+ Concierge with any questions by sending them a message in the Included Health app, by visiting includedhealth.com/google, or by calling 1-855-431-5540.

In some instances, it may be appropriate to have two primary care providers: a Health+ powered by Included Health primary care provider (online) and a local primary care provider (in-person). For example, your OB/GYN may be your local primary care provider, but you are also permitted to have an online Health+ powered by Included Health primary care provider.

In addition to Health+ urgent and primary care providers, your Health+’s Concierge is available to assist with any additional questions you may have outside of your visit. You can message them in the Included Health app or by calling 1-855-431-5540.

Yes. For urgent needs, you may have a visit with any Health+ powered by Included Health provider. Simply click “See a doctor now” in the “Get Care” tab when you open the Included Health app.

However, for preventative care and routine visits Included Health strongly encourages you to see your Health+ powered by Included Health primary care provider.

Yes. You may change your primary care provider at any time in the Included Health app or at includedhealth.com/google.  

1. From the “Your Care Team” section on the “Home” page, click on Your Primary Doctor, and then ‘View Profile’. You can then choose a different provider from the provider profile page.
2. You can also change your selected provider from the appointment scheduling screen when scheduling a visit with your primary care provider. 

Video urgent care gives you access to the first available highly-qualified provider. When you’re sick and need to see a doctor, our team is available, usually within minutes. Available 24/7, our providers can help get you on track as well as order prescriptions, if needed. 

Video primary care gives you access to a dedicated primary care provider and Health+ Concierge who manage your health needs over the long term. You select a doctor who meets your preferences and designate them as your primary care doctor. They’ll take the time to get to know you, learn your medical history, and understand your healthcare needs. From annual checkups and personalized care plans to referrals to in-network specialists, your primary care doctor is by your side to help. Just like an online urgent care visit, you can schedule appointments at a time that works for you. If you need a provider urgently, Included Health will automatically check to see if your primary care doctor is available, but you’ll still have access to 24/7 urgent care with the first available provider.

When you elect an Included Health primary care provider and schedule an appointment, you will have the option to order a “device kit.” Device kits include consumer-grade medical devices, such as a thermometer and blood pressure monitor, intended to help you collect vital health data to support your primary care provider in diagnosing, treating and managing your health.

A device kit is not necessary to conduct your appointment, but they are strongly encouraged.

To receive a device kit, simply select a primary care provider and schedule a video visit. As part of your visit intake, you can provide your address and a kit will be ordered for you on your behalf. 

If you schedule a primary or preventive care appointment but do not have any vital readings or patient history information on file, your dedicated Health+ Concierge might reach out to offer to send you a device kit. 

As part of your visit follow up, your Health+ Concierge may reach out to answer any questions you have. They may also offer to send you a device kit at this time. 

If you have any questions, message your dedicated Health+ Concierge using the Included Health app, by visiting includedhealth.com/google, or calling 1-855-431-5540.