Google’s Marissa Mayer put out another teaser today about its long-anticipated, much-delayed Google Health service. The post on the Official Google Blog offers some screen shots (below) and lays out what consumers can expect. But other than a pilot announced last week with the Cleveland Clinic, there is no mention on when Google Health will actually launch. Meanwhile, Microsoft launched its own rival HealthVault way back in October.
Like HealthVault, Google Health will allow you to download your health records from doctors and hospitals, and create your own medical profile. Also like HealthVault, it will let you search for doctors and provide online tools to manage your health. When you log in to Google Health, you will see your health profile, complete with information about your medical conditions, medications, allergies, procedures, test results, drug interactions, and medical contacts. Security and portability of medical records are key areas of focus for the Google engineers building Google Health.
The real battle, though, is which one can become the de facto platform for third-party health apps. HealthVault is already signing up industry partners. Google has its own approach. It is not quite OpenSocial for healthcare, but that is the general idea. The problem is that most healthcare applications are not Web applications. They work on the legacy technology you find at most hospitals and doctor’s offices. Google is working hard to help port those apps to the Web. Mayer explains:
Right now, this means you’ll be able to automatically import information such as your doctors’ records, your prescription history, and your test results into Google Health in order to easily access and and control your data. Later, this platform strategy will mean that you will be able to interact with services and tools easily, and will be able to do things like schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, and start using new wellness tools.
Healthcare is still a largely untapped market on the Web. Whoever can crack it first will open up a huge new market. (For both Google and Microsoft, the opportunity here is health-related search and the very valuable targeted ads that go with that—although Google CEO Eric Schmidt reportedly says there will be no ads in Google Health. Not sure how he’s going to make money then). But enough teasers already. It is time to launch this thing for real. Funny that Google is the one with the vaporware in this case, and not Microsoft for a change.
I think the battle between Microsoft and Google is win win for consumers. I can see this being a huge money maker for wither google or M$ down the road.
I dont use anything that says BETA
the Big Brother! and this one is REALLY big
Leaving all your medical information to Google, Microsoft or whatever is madness…
excited about this one.
@bs:
you must not use much.
Marisa is definitely a tease!
G-health… wishing you all the Good Health…
So you go to Google for an interview. Will google HR be able to look into your medical record?
Regardless, it seems like a bead idea to give it all to some entity with known issues with privacy.
Bullshit. Releasing a complex health care records system before it’s cooked would be crazy. Email screwups are one thing, but nobody can afford screwups with health care records.
You might ask them to stop the teasing already, but that wouldn’t be much fun, would it?
Irrelevant to this post, just don’t know how to get a hold of you guys otherwise. This was just posted on CNN, might be blog worthy.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/0.....index.html
Who cares? Google has *zero* credibility in this area and probably never will. They can try but it just doesn’t make a lot of sense for Google to be a major player in health. I thought their model was to get people to “click off to other sites” as quickly as possible?
as ususal, another looks really ugly google product, what are their UI doing?
why do people treat health records like some holy grail?
oh wow, i got a flu shot, real def-con-1!!!! level info there
here are my other vitals:
- i once had the chicken pox
- i have had my major vaccinations
- i once got cut playing hockey
why do people think this info is more valuable, than say, your brokerage account?
Personally, it’s a long time coming. We health care consumers just aren’t P.O’ed enough about the really issue…doctor’s and hospitals not giving us our medical information…. don’t know about you…but I’m paying more for health care every year and I want to make MUCH better choices about the care I receive.
I hate having to beg a doctor or hospital to give me MY medical information. I am repeatedly insulted by the stance the medical community has that I’m too stupid to use that data wisely or correctly. Excuse me? I can look up any law on the books on line…doesn’t mean I’m off practicing law! Some day, some way, we consumers need to break the arrogance of the medical community and give us our damn information!
Anything with Google’s name will be received with ‘oohs and ah’s” but you know what…healthcare ain’t that sexy…it aint’ that easy and you still have to monetize the damn thing!
Google lost its trust in privacy matters the moment gmail started showing ads based on the content in the email and then the whole Google desktop’s sharing issues. Why would anybody store sensitive information in google servers… Doomed to fail.
Google is another MSFT in disguise. Its true colors already started showing but will be more obvious when they get desperate in the next few quarters when online ad spending is expected to go down considerably due to recession fears. Last week comScore report showed Google’s paid clicks are down some 7%. First time ever down since the service was started.
To me, delaying seems like a smart move. What stands out when I look at this situation is that no one is really asking for the solution that Google is offering. The Medical community doesn’t want it, consumers didn’t ask for it and security experts are flat out scared of it.
I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, just that no one really asked for it.
On the other side of the coin it’s very risky for Google. If they have a security breach and are responsible for leaking 10,000 people’s personal medical records to the world who is going to trust them with anything else.
Let’s not forget Google’s eventual goal here. They want everyone storing all their info “in the cloud”. If this system gets compromised its going to be a major news story. They’ll essentially be telling the world that the cloud isn’t safe which is going to set their other aspirations back by years if not indefinitely.
Welcome the the world of big buisness,all the silicon valley blowhards spend their time bashing anything MSFT while Google always seems to get a free pass.
The fact of the matter is that this is the way big companies always end up operating and Google is now a big company with thousands of employees.
They are under pressure to show wallstreet that the stock valuation is worth the asking price and that they will be able to expand the business outside of it’s core search business model.
Google needs to expand now or the analysts will start to beat the company the the stock down.
Google is a very young company trying to do too much in too many directions. Making lots of mistakes…
Google Health, Google JotSites, Android…..anyone noticing a pattern here?
We had an operational partnership with Google two years ago, and the mid-level mgmt types at the time were complaining about how slow they were in developing new products & services, not to mention keeping updated with their current stuff.
This is an interesting time for Google. Their main line of business has seen it’s first hiccup in terms of performance, and the share price has certainly taken a beating this year.
For all their great efforts to “organize the world’s information”, you can bet the market won’t be so forgiving in the future when product after service after product is delayed or fails to deliver meaningful results to the bottom line. It will be interesting to watch how well they manage this stage of the business.
Giving medical history to Google is insane! Privacy anyone? Credit card info is one thing, the fact you might be predisposed to cancer is another. Case and point, one of the G-founders’ wife is trying to run 23andme.com, another silly foray into medical (genetic to be exact) information. Anyone who gives them genetic information is equally clueless to the risks. See some parallel here between the two companies?
Gee, healthcare is huge, lets get everyones info and sell ads against it or better yet, sell the data (what a nightmare that would be). This one will flop for sure!
@VentureDeal “Google is a very young company trying to do too much in too many directions. Making lots of mistakes…”..
Youngsters are always passionate and having lots of enthusiasm ..whats wrong int that ? And more over its Google, so it’s FREE… why do we need to worry for that
Kind of pathetic watching Google flop around looking for the next big thing.
1) Receiving pay stubs via email
2) Filing taxes online
3) Buying health insurance online (and disclosing prior illness)
Don’t fight it! It’s going to happen!!!!!
btw - HealthVault is leaps and bounds ahead of GOOG here.
The company to keep an eye on is Revolution Health (Steve Case of AOL). They have made some interesting acquisitions and have people onboard that really understand the challenges in the space.
I think one the reasons for GOOG’s delays is that they really don’t have the personal in the company to drive this forward. They would be best suited by acquiring a small niche company that can bring the expertise. Do you really think that Marissa Mayer really knows about HIPPA, cross border pharmacy, electronic scripting…………..
There is a big difference between Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health. Google is focusing on a services for consumer on the web and Microsoft building a platform for software developers to build application for hospitals, etc.
check this link: http://www.familyhealthguy.com.....hi-res.jpg
More: http://familyhealthguy.com/
@18 Joe, plenty of people realize Google has become long on hype and short on execution. It’s simply amzing the crappy amount of stuff theyre producing but thankfully it’s all free.
In terms of healthcare, it will be interesting if users find ads being served up adjacent to their most personal/severe ailments to be useful or merely depressing…
Perhaps this is only possible because I’m in an HMO, but I already get all of this information and more through Kaiser. I can make and view appointments online, email my doctor (via a web form), get test results, and basically see my full medical history from when they first launched this a couple of years ago. It’s very convenient. I would never trust this information to third-party such as Google or Microsoft.
As for “whoopie’s” question about why people want this information secret, there are many obvious reasons. Most people don’t want friends, colleagues and employers nosing around in their personal medical information.
@26 Michael
How about if you are 66 years old and living on fixed income. Your maintenance medication (diabetes, blood pressure) costs you $1,200 per month through Kaiser BUT if you could directly subscribe to a FREE secured portal and receive the same medication via mail order from an accredited pharmacy for 30% less would you do it? YES!!! What if your doctor is prescribing you a branded drug instead of a generic, wouldn’t you like to know since you are paying the bill?
I agree that GOOG or MSFT doesn’t appeal to me either for storing “some” of my records. BUT, there will be a third party that will become the defacto in this space and that company and it’s investors will make billions of dollars.
Take a look at what a company like Myca is looking to roll out. We are very close to seeing some cool business models and technology platforms in healthcare that challenge the status quo.
Cool site: Health 2.0
http://www.health2con.com/
Who in their right mind would ever put their health info online? No. Effing. Way.
@Tom (11th comment):
)
I agree with you, Tom, I think TechCrunch should have a “submit news” functionality that would allow readers to send in news subjects that would be worth writing about. I used the Contact function (used to pitch startups) to send them a news story that TC wrote about 2 days later (not too fast on that one
@ Erick Schonfeld & Co.: People, you have such a large readers base and you gotta do something with it to grow your business. I think that having a “submit news” functionality would allow TC to be on top of so many more things compared to the current situation. I understand that TC made its name by writing inside stories that few had access to, but it morphed into a combination of that with tech news stories posted by MSM.
You choose what MSM news stories to post on TC based on how relevant they are to your readers’ base and do a great job at it so that I, as a reader, would rather get them from TC than from elsewhere. Why not extend it?
The “submit news” thing would be like a combination of Digg and a blog: people submit news stories, but there is a moderation/selection process that picks only the best ones. Thus, you will save time on finding news - you will just select them - you will get them quickly after they are posted elsewhere and, most importantly, you will empower your readers. I think that would be cool!
Just an idea
@SFMike
Um…the same people who put their banking information online, I’m assuming?
I think this concept is preposterous if you take it at face value…i.e., that it’s intended to be a comprehensive, authoritative repository for your medical records. (Not to say it isn’t a clever medical target-marketing ploy disguised as a comprehensive repository.)
Let’s list what’s in “your medical record:”
Every piece of BP and weight and eyesight data that your doctor’s nurse has ever jotted down as your appointment starts.
Every scribbled observation that your doctor makes.
The print out from the blood lab and urinalysis that comes days after the office appointment.
Every EKG, X-Ray, MRI and specialized exam/test you’ve had.
Every prescrciption that’s been written for you. And a record of how you’ve abided by the instructions. And the drug interactions and allergies and side effects you’ve suffered.
…….And that’s just for a person who’s had routine preventative care with no serious hospitalization or surgery.
How in the world can a patient amass all this stuff and dutifully enter it into their Google portal?
Yet, if it’s not comprehensive, we’re back to doctors’ offices phoning doctors’ offices to exchange all this, which is how it’s done today.
I’ve seen one place where this concept works, and it’s the VA Hospital system. But that’s because every checkup, prescription, X-ray, etc. etc., is all loaded into the exact same ginormous EDS-designed governmental enterprise system from the start.
All of you people running off at the keyboard about never putting your health info online must be un-insured. If you had insurance then you would realize that all of your medical records are ALREADY online and have been for many years.
Doctors file your medical claims >onlineonline< on the server of your insurance company. Your data is secure with your health insurance company, but all use services that verify claims to reduce fraud. Your data is transmitted to these 3rd party companies wholesale and who the hell knows what happens to it all once it hits the interwebs.
To the commenter that remarked about Google’s past privacy issues; which issues would those be? Ads in Gmail? Please. Your ISP scans EVERYTHING that you do and they SELL that data to 3rd parties. Yes, even your email is scanned unless it is a secure connection. Bottom line, the world is moving online and if I have to pick a company to trust with my info it will be Google.
I’ve been working on a product with my company for over 8 months now and we just perfected and launched it recently - however, we JUST started recruiting customers - so it will take 2-3 weeks before they start coming in.
Our VP of Marketing (who joined recently) introduced me to the concept of “VaporWare” - selling something that does not exist with a “spoof” demo - very interesting to see how corporate world works.
I’ve always been in consumer side and I just never thought of selling stuff that does not exist with a future launch date
Smart but annoying indeed.
- MysteryCEO
“Your search for cra sincaunre yielded 0 results. Since we can see from your medical records that you have dyslexia, perhaps you meant _car insurance_?”
To address the privacy fears associated with Google health records, patients might post legal terms and conditions in their records. http://hack-igations.blogspot......ivacy.html http://hack-igations.blogspot......ivacy.html
Will be a tough nut to crack but it will be cracked.
google seems to be crazy by getting into everything.
bcz those who invest in stocks are crazy and keep raising google’s share price, and so is google reaping and experimenting newer. it will bust sooner or later and the loser will be investors
Demo of Google Health:
@30:42 in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGKBzP8WbEc