Below the full Google release is posted, announcing its Google Health medical records project. The release is signed by Sameer Samat, Director, Product Management, who cites a personal example.

You also can see other articles posted by news organizations about Google’s original announcement, some questioning the feature, others saying it has promise.

Please note that the physician updating can only be done by participating organizations. At of now, there are 15.

Your own doctor, for instance, Google user or not, would not, based on the information below, be able to post to your record—or, at least, not yet.

That said, the smart money should never bet against Google. Just as there was a race to decode the genome between the NIH and a private company—which some say made both parties work better faster—Google may challenge the U.S. government/contractors to a similar race.

My money would be on Google.

Google’s Start-Up Advantages

• One of the biggest user populations in the world. They have the framework and capacity in place to handle this. Others have to build it.
• Regular Google users are more likely to trust Google than an anonymous or government entity, although that could change. (It does have its detractors, who fear its power is already too great.)
• A system which already allows 15 organizations to update records for patients, such as the Cleveland Clinic; Minute Clinics (CVS in-store); Blue Cross of Massachussetts; and Qwest Diagnostics (patient testing).
• Google will need a critical mass of physicians, clinics and hospitals to participate in automatic updating to get to the “tipping point” where it either dominates or is one of the dominant sources of personal medical records.
• Google might be able to cut the cost to physicians of transitioning to this electronic system in several ways although only its web designers know whether that is possible or not. Most doctors work in groups of 1 to 10 doctors. The advantages of scale, in the main, are not there for Google to tap into. However, if Google could deliver that to physicians’ groups—-making it easy for them to go electronic—-that well could carry the day for doctors and Google. Physicians will take seriously the participation of the Cleveland Clinic. Its international reputation will give doctors comfort.

Some Disadvantages Google May Face

• This system is skewed to people who are Google users, which eliminates a lot of patients—-those who don’t have Internet access because it is too costly for their budgets; they live in an area with no or poor coverage (rural) or they are people who are not comfortable with technology even if it is available to them.
• This system is skewed to people who are able to keep up with their records online. If Google wants a truly comprehensive system, it is going to have to find a way to clear people who hold the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care for a frail elderly patient or someone with cognitive loss so that that person can access and use the record. As it is now, the patient must consent to someone else’s seeing the record. These patients often cannot provide that consent in an online program such as this one. Another group of patients who need clear records but cannot reliably manage them are people with serious or life-threatening mental illnesses. This is not criticism; it is a statement of the challenges if Google were to decide to try to be “the” system in the U.S.
• Even Google might find this more costly than anticipated.
• People might not like it. There are too many “personal patient record” products on the market—none of which seems to have won the hearts and minds of the family record keepers (Read Mom, Honey or Daughter). That suggests either the paper records are too cumbersome for a layperson (true) or they don’t like record-keeping, period (who does?). That suggests that automatic updating is one key to success.

Official Google Health Blog Announcement

“We continue to learn a tremendous amount since launching Google Health in the spring of 2008. We’re listening to feedback from users every day about their needs, and one issue we hear regularly is that people want help coordinating their care and the care of loved ones. They want the ability to share their medical records and personal health information with trusted family members, friends, and doctors in their care network. I can relate to this.

“Just a few years ago, my father suffered a minor heart attack and was sent to the ER. I arrived on the scene in a panic, and was asked what medications he was taking. To my surprise, I had no clue. If my father had a Google Health account, and had shared his profile with me, I would have been up-to-date on his current medications.

“I’m happy to announce today Google Health has addressed this issue with the release of a new “Share this profile” feature enabling Google Health users to invite others they trust (whether it’s a family member, a trusted care network provider, friends, and/or a doctor) to view their medical records and personal health information.

How It Works

“Log into Google Health, click on “Share this Profile,” and type in the email address of the person with whom you’d like to share your profile. Google Health will send an email to them with a link to view your profile. The link will only work in connection with the email address of that person — your profile can’t be accessed if the link is forwarded on. You can stop sharing at any time, and you can always see who has access to your information. Those who are viewing your profile can only see the profile you share — not any other one in your account. We’ve also built in some extra protections to make sure your health information stays safe, private, and under your control:

Google’s Statement of Privacy Protections for Patients/Users

• “The sharing link in the email expires after 30 days, but the sharing access itself does not expire — it will stay in place until the user decides to stop sharing
• “Viewers can only see — not edit — your Google Health profile
• “You can review a user activity report to see who has viewed your profile

“For doctors and family members who are not yet online, we’ve also made it easier to share a hard copy of your information via our new printing feature. The wallet format prints a wallet-sized card that includes a user’s medications, and allergies; the PDF format prints a letter-sized copy of a user’s profile, including medications, allergies, conditions, and treatments.
“Finally, we’ve launched a new graphing feature that helps patients visualize their medical test information. This is great for, say, someone who has high cholesterol. They can use Google Health to enter their lab results on a monthly basis and see the trend over time. (Emphasis added)

Work in Progress, Google Solicits Feedback from Users

“There is still a lot more work to do on Google Health, and we’re excited to keep hearing from you so we can continue to make improvements. For now, we hope this new sharing feature makes coordinating your care, or the care of loved ones, a little easier.”

Source: Google Official Announcement, March 4, 2009