Google Health Aims for Simplicity of Use

Google Inc.’s personal health record within Google Health allows individuals to collect, store and manage their own health-related records online. Its purpose is to organize patient information and make it accessible and useful, according to the company.

    Google Health allows users to automatically import their medical records, prescription histories and test results into an online profile that can be accessed from anywhere at any time for free.

    Eventually, Google intends to allow users to have access to tools and services such as scheduling appointments, refilling prescriptions and utilizing wellness tools, Marissa Mayer, vice president of search and user products, said in a statement.

    For example, a blood pressure device manufacturer could integrate its devices with the platform. As a result, Google Health users could take their blood pressure with the device and then upload the reading into the online portal using a USB device.

    Google has already partnered with several companies, including CVS Caremark Group’s MinuteClinic, Walgreen Co., Cleveland Clinic and Quest Diagnostics to integrate their information into the platform. Users can link their records from those organizations to their Google Health account.

    Google Health records are portable and users can access and control them from anywhere. They can import information from any health plan or medical provider, manually entering the data or uploading it, depending on whether the information comes from a Google Health partner.

    “We aren’t doctors or health care experts,” Mayer said in a statement, “but one thing Google can create is a clean, easy-to-use user experience that makes managing your health information straightforward and easy.”