Pilot Testing Google Health
Feb 21, 2008
The news broke this morning that Google is launching a pilot project with a group of volunteers at the Cleveland Medical Center to test its Google Health service, which will allow patients to access their personal health records (PHRs) and related medical information online. It's been in development for well over a year and the announcement of the six-to-eight week pilot is an important milestone, though the service still isn't ready for prime time.
The Associated Press reports that Google's interest in managing PHRs is seen by the company as "a logical extension" because Internet users already turn to Google to research information about their health. According to this Media Vault video by Google, 65% of people have used the Internet to answer a health-related question and 66% of consumers looking for medical information online start by going to a search engine like Google.
But are those consumers ready to make the leap from searching for health info online to sharing their own medical histories?
Privacy advocates have raised concerns about protecting such sensitive data; the World Privacy Forum published a policy analysis and a consumer advisory yesterday warning the public to think twice before authorizing PHRs. Though not directly related to the Google Health project, the organization's reports point out the many privacy and security questions that will need to be answered by Google, Microsoft and others as they move further into the digital health business.
Tags:
Digital Health, E-Health, Google, Privacy
