Google lifts veil on its personal health record

One week after Google said it was testing its PHR with Cleveland Clinic patients, the company's CEO gave the first public showing of Google Health.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. March 17, 2008.

Orlando, Fla. -- The 28,000 health IT professionals, physicians, hospital executives and others attending the Health Information and Management Systems Society's annual conference in late February got a preview of the long-anticipated Google Health electronic personal health record system.

During his keynote address, Google CEO Eric Schmidt unveiled and demonstrated Google Health, which is currently being tested in beta form with up to 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic. Schmidt said he expects the system to be rolled out for public use in about five months.

Google's goal for the PHR, as stated by Schmidt, of "changing the world and improving your health," was simply stated, but could be considered grandiose considering the slow growth in the PHR market.

At last count, more than 200 products exist that are called PHRs. Few have gained traction as only about 5% of the total patient population has a PHR. But industry insiders, including those in the PHR market, believe big names such as Google could help change those statistics and also help the existing vendors that are currently struggling to find takers.

PHR advocates claim the systems will help control health care costs by placing consumers more in control of their health. Google claims its PHR is different from others because it can interface with almost any other program, meaning information can be exchanged between the PHR and insurers, physicians, pharmacies or other sources the patient chooses, and the data live all in one place. The company also says its system helps educate consumers by combining the health records with Google's search features to provide links to relevant health information or articles that are prompted by keywords in the records.