Google unveils personal medical record service
Google's biggest rival, Microsoft Corp, has introduced HealthVault
A Google search page is seen through the spectacles of a computer user. Web search company Google Inc. is testing in the United States an online storage bank where individuals can store and access their medical records, the company said recently. Photo: REUTERS: Darren Staples
Google Inc. has unveiled a plan to help U.S. patients gain control of their medical records and is working with doctors' groups, pharmacies and labs to help them securely share sensitive health data. The company's long-rumored entry into the highly sensitive field came when Chief Executive Eric Schmidt introduced Google Health at a health-care conference in Florida. Google said it has signed deals with hospitals and companies including medical tester Quest Diagnostics Inc, health insurer Aetna Inc, Walgreens and Walmart Stores Inc. pharmacies. The password-protected Web service stores health records on Google computers, with a medical services directory that lets users import doctors' records, drug history and test results. Google aims to foster sharing of information between these services, but keep control in patients' hands, allowing them to schedule appointments or refill prescriptions, for example. "We don't know how to suck it out of the brains of doctors, but we know how to suck it out of the computer systems of doctors," Schmidt said in an interview after his speech. A week ago, Google said it was teaming up with leading academic medical researcher Cleveland Clinic to test a data exchange that puts patients in charge of records. Schmidt said it would likely be a few months before Google Health is offered more widely. For decades progress has been slow converting paper records often scrawled in illegible doctors' script and stored in conflicting filing systems into centrally held digital records. IBM, Oracle Corp and Siemens AG, among many others, have worked on such digitisation. Google's biggest rival, Microsoft Corp, has introduced HealthVault, which gives users control over who sees what. Among start-ups active in the field are Revolution Health, a company backed by former AOL Chairman Steve Case. All are based on the notion that individuals should retain control over the data. "The information in your health record is yours and it doesn't get shared with anyone else without your permission," Schmidt said. Electronic record-keeping has been held back by a lack of focus on consumer needs, not privacy fears, he said, adding any system should "'normal-person' designed, not doctor designed."
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