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August 2007

Google, Microsoft eye Internet healthcare services

Microsoft this fall and Google in 2008 likely will unveil consumer-oriented healthcare initiatives that will combine “Internet search tools, the vast resources of the Web, and online personal health records,” according to people familiar with the plans, The New York Times reports.

A recent Harris poll found people increasingly are using the Internet to find healthcare information and advice, with 52 percent of adults sometimes or frequently searching the Web for health information, compared with 29 percent of adults in 2001.

If Microsoft and Google’s plans “gain momentum over time, that promises to accelerate a shift in power to consumers in healthcare, just as Internet technology has done in other industries,” the Times reports.

A prototype of the Google Health welcome page states, “At Google, we feel patients should

be in charge of their health information, and they should be able to grant their healthcare providers, family members, or whomever they choose access to this information.”

A presentation of screen images from the prototype shows the Web site could include a “health profile” of medications, allergies, and health conditions; a personal “health guide” for recommended treatments, drug interactions, and diet and exercise regimens; and directories of area physicians, among other features.

Microsoft would not disclose the details of its plan, but people working with the company said the effort will include online resources as well as software that will help consumers find, retrieve, and store personal health information on digital devices, including computers and cell phones.

Source: California Healthline, www.californiahealthline.org

 

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