Google Health offers your basic medical history online

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Google Health launched a pilot program this February with Cleveland Clinic and was able to work with patients and doctors and shared the data electronically. After this successful pilot program, now Google is making it available for everyone and has added a number of hospitals and pharmacies.

Dr. Michael Roizen, the chief wellness officer for the Cleveland Clinic, a major private U.S. medical group, said during the news conference at Google headquarters: "If anyone can demystify what health is, and make it fun ... Google can."

What can Google Health do for us?

Google Health allows you to store and manage all of your health information in one central place. And like other Google program, it is free -- all you need is a Google account.

* Keep your doctors up-to-date
* Stop filling out the same paperwork every time you see a new doctor
* Avoid getting the same lab tests done over and over again because your doctor cannot get copies of your latest results
* Don't lose your medical records because of a move, change in jobs or health insurance

Google Health Features:

Build online health profiles: You can enter health conditions, medications used, allergy information, lab results etc., into your health profile. You can create multiple profiles, one for every member of the family.



Import medical records from hospitals and pharmacies: You can link your health profile to your hospital and share records with them. You can get a complete record of the transaction you received at the hospital or from the pharmacy. You can log on to the their websites and transfer information about your medical records or prescriptions to your Google Health profile for your records. Some of the partners are Cleveland Clinic, Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center, Long Drug Store, Walgreens, CVS, RxAmerica, Quest Diagnostics, Medco and more.



View your medical history: Google Health will help track your medical history over the years. Use your profile to view a summary of your medical history, or drill down to see the details close up. Having all your health information organized and centrally located will help keep your doctors up-to-date when you visit them.



Find out how medications might interact: Once you enter all the medications, Google Health will check for any potential interactions between your drugs, allergies, and conditions and warn you. Then you and your doctor can see what is the best strategy.



Search for doctors and hospitals: Once you find out what your condition is, you can search for a doctor near you and you can add that doctor to your profile or visit the doctor’s site or find directions with the help of Google Maps.



Some are concerned about privacy problems, but Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president for search services and user experience, wants to allay those fears. She said Google will store personal health information on computers that are separate from Google’s other properties and also added an additional layer of security. Only the user will have the access to their records and only they can allow to share that information with their doctors or pharmacies.

I have started using this service and it's very easy to use. They have so many features which will be helpful for us. The site allows patients to schedule appointments with doctors, refill prescriptions, receive diagnostic results online and do research on health topics.

Just like we have Quicken and Money for financing, we need such a service for Health so we can maintain complete medical records in one place.

Microsoft also recently introduced HealthVault but it's not as comprehensive as Google Health.