Google partners with Cleveland Clinic in new medical information program

| 02.21.2008 | 09:27:548607 |

February 21 '08: The Associated Press reported that Google has partnered with the Cleveland Clinic in a pilot project to create a patients' medical records profile which can be accessed online by doctors looking to view persons' medical history.

On the Official Google Blog (linked above), Vice President Adam Bosworth said that a recent medical emergency involving his mother prompted him to take a look at the current state of health care in the US. "While the quality of care my mother received was extraordinary, I saw firsthand how challenged the health care system was in supporting caregivers and communicating between different medical organizations," Bosworth said.

At the heart of the pilot project is the electronic personal health record system (PHR) called eCleveland Clinic MyChart. The invitation-only pilot will enroll anywhere from 1,500 to 10,000 patients.

"It will test secure exchange of patient medical record data such as prescriptions, conditions and allergies between their Cleveland Clinic PHR to a secure Google profile in a live clinical delivery," the Cleveland Clinic's press release announced. "The ultimate goal of this patient-centered and controlled model is to give patients the ability to interact with multiple physicians, healthcare service providers and pharmacies."

The technology to be used will be Google's Co-op platform. "Google and the health community have labeled sites and pages across the web making it easier for users to refine their health queries and locate the medical information they need," Boswroth wrote in the Google blog.

The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog posted, "The profiles will be protected by the same password required to use other Google services such as email."

National Blueprint Tags: Public Health & Medical, Communications & Public Info.