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Google health panel sparks excitement

July 1, 2007 — 8:01pm ET
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Google's announcement that it's developed a healthcare advisory panel has created quite a stir. In recent weeks, the search giant has been pitching its secure Web information security technology, arguing along the way that secure authentication is key to building Web-based EMRs. The announcement has further fueled speculation Google will develop its own Web-based EMR.

The stellar 21-member panel, which will advise Google on consumer and provider issues and offer product ideas, includes the CEO of Cleveland Clinic, Linda Dillman, a Wal-Mart EVP with benefits responsibility, former FDA commissioner David Kessler, Harvard Medical School CIO John Halamka and American College of Physicians CEO John Tooker.

Panel members are paid a pittance, $1,500 per quarterly meeting, and it doesn't seem they're getting any privileged access to stock or other corporate benefits. So I guess they share many other observers' view that whatever Google develops, it will be important to the industry--and you can't beat a front-row seat on that kind of thing.

To learn more about the group:
- read this Google blog entry
- read this iHealthBeat article 

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Comments

By Darrell Pruitt | Posted 1:28pm | July 2, 2007

Once again, dentists and their patients have been left out of the plans of stakeholders. We always struggle with unaltered hand-me-downs from hospital-level medicine. Darrell Pruitt DDS

By Paul Reprogle | Posted 1:55pm | October 29, 2007

I would love to say I am as excited as everyone else, but I find I have a few reservations. Google does a wonderful job with their search engine algorithms and linking together thousands of PC’s. This approach guarantees the speed everyone has become accustomed too with Google as well as returning relevant information on/by request. But then, that’s what Google does and they do it extremely well.

Now for the bad news, Google doesn’t do so well when it comes to security. About the only thing Google hasn’t let slip out is their own search engine algorithms. If you do a Google search for ‘Google security breaches’ Google returns 1,800,000 hits or returns. Bottom line, if you plug it in it ain’t secure and if you give it to Google someone is going to find it.

I don’t want to share my medical records with anyone but my doctor and I want to know that he isn’t going to share them with anyone else. I also don’t want them sold to be used against me later. I think we need to create a secure, dedicated site for medical records. Not just add them to Google or Microsoft (Healthvault) and hope they take care of them. Just my thoughts…

By david s. | Posted 1:49pm | January 4, 2008

would patients prefer to have their doctor keep an emr on a server in their office or online ?

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