Google unveiled its new online health service at a meeting
of the Healthcare Management and Information Systems Society (HIMSS) in
February.
Functions of the service dubbed Google Health are expected
to include storage of medical records, health tools and a “find a doctor”
function.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt compared Google Health to Google's
news service, which is not immediately scheduled to carry advertising. “Our
model is that the owner of the data has control over who can see it,” he said
at the conference. “Trust, for Google, is the most important currency on the
Internet.”
Google may not need to place its ads directly on its health
landing page as long as it provides a search box that can lead users to other
pages with ads.
Google's VP, search & user products, Marissa Mayer,
wrote in a blog post: “We're proud of the product that we've designed and are
continuing to build.”
Google also announced a partnership with Cleveland Clinic to
test a version of Google Health. Between 1,500 and 10,000 patients were invited
to participate in the trial. The pilot program was not open to the public.
Mayer said: “We chose Cleveland Clinic as one of the first
partners to pilot our new health offering because as a provider, they already
empower their patients by giving them online tools that help them manage their
medical records online and coordinate care with their doctors.”