Google to 'Ad Up' Health
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Google formally launched Google Health today. As Google Watch maven Clint Boulton notes, this service is geared to compete in the online health space with Microsoft and Revolution Health. Benign? Malevolent? Do we trust Google with our personal medical information? Google spokesperson Marissa Mayer admitted that Google hasn't ruled out using behavioral analysis to target specific ads, in an interview with Greg Sterling of SearchEngineLand. She did say that this "service" would only occur for users who specifically opt in. Yeah, I'm going to opt into something like that. Look, I'm not a knee-jerk Google basher. I don't blame it for getting so big so fast. A simple interface and pretty colors go a long way. Not to mention darn good online apps. Not everything Google does is evil, but if time has shown us anything, it's that Google is finding it harder and harder to live up to its "do no evil" credo. There's a lot more at stake here than just whether Google or some other behemoth becomes the electronic record keeper of record, to coin a redundancy. With its huge market presence, Google could single-handedly destroy any momentum for electronic health records, which will set back a lot of attempts to improve delivery and reduce the costs of health care. That's why Google really needs to watch its step here. Google needs to do the right thing, not the math. |
Comments (1)
Portable electronic health records offer the promise of better care and fewer medical errors resulting in injury or death. This initiative needs to be led by companies that have been in the health IT space for decades; not some behemoth looking to expand their portfolio on to something so critical. Providing a solution will require absolute identification, access, security, and privacy. I would never trust my personal health information with Google. Even if I did the solution doesn't solve the big problem.
Beyond the tust issue is operability. If patients have to maintain their own health record it is unlikely to be complete and therefore useless of even harmful. Ask anyone with major illness what medications they are on and more than 50% of the time they won't be able to tell you exactly the information needed. Operationally all electronic health records need to exchange information via a national health information repository. That way no matter where you go for care the providers system can push and pull information from that repository so your record is always accurate and complete. I don't think Google or any other company like that can be the national repository. The only result I can see from patients signing on to a service like this is further fragmentation of the health record. When I arrive by ambulance unconscience in the ER how will the hospital get at my google account to know what my medications are and what I'm allergic to? Get a clue and don't get sucked in to this.
Posted by RedM3 | February 29, 2008 11:10 AM