health

Google and Microsoft: Your next health care partner?

Google and Microsoft may eventually become the envy of medical researchers, as the technology behemoths take on the role of hosting health care databases for consumers' own personally controlled health records (PCHRs).

The movement toward consumers controlling their own health records and the means that will get them there raises several issues of concern, according to a report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Under a PCHR, a patient would set up a portal that could authorize their doctors, health care providers, researchers, and family members to provide and share information relating to the patient. Those records and information … Read more

Gates Foundation adopts 'challenge' model for health

Nowadays, it seems like if there's a big scientific problem, like how to send explorers back to the moon or build a robotic vehicle, organizations put several million dollars on the line and wait for private industry to invent the solution.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is taking a similar approach to fight global health problems, in a first-ever initiative called the Grand Challenges Explorations. On Monday, the foundation said it would put up $100 million to fund novel ideas, vaccines, or drug-delivery systems that protect people against infectious diseases.

Of course, the foundation already funds global-health projects. … Read more

Laptop theft exposes patients' medical data

A government laptop housing the medical information of 2,500 patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health study was stolen, potentially exposing personal data.

The computer was stolen in February from the trunk of a car driven by a lab chief of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, but officials did not notify the patients of the theft until Thursday, saying they didn't want to spread unnecessary alarm, according to The Washington Post.

The laptop contained seven years worth of clinical studies on the patients, including their names, ages, medical record numbers, and MRI reports. Social Security … Read more

New blogger/podcaster ad network tackles health care

It seems TechCrunch beat Blogger & Podcaster magazine to the punch Monday by announcing the trade publication's new advertising network, which is expected to eventually include access to a group health care plan.

In response to the TechCrunch report, Blogger & Podcaster Publisher Larry Genkin confirmed his company's plans for the Blogger & Podcaster Media Network, or BPN, and added a few more details about the program he said will allow participants "to earn a living from being a full-time blogger/podcaster." The BPN is open to all bloggers and podcasters, regardless of subscriber count, unique … Read more

Video: Why Google Health

Check out Google CEO Eric Schmidt's keynote presentation at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference (see the video below). He makes the argument for Google harnessing its search platform for dealing with the major inefficiencies and ills of the healthcare system.

The first principle, "It's the consumers data," Schmidt said. "Users can access the data and can control who can see it." And, because the data is in the cloud, it can be accessed anytime, anywhere.

With both Google and Microsoft, with its HealthVault, investing heavily in gaining converts to their respective … Read more

My stunted interview with Google's Eric Schmidt

I've always wanted to interview Google CEO Eric Schmidt one-on-one, and this week I finally got the chance.

I learned that he was going to be making a big Google Health announcement at a health care trade show on Thursday and a Google spokesman promised me I would get a "one-on-one" interview with him in private afterward if I flew out to Orlando, Fla., from San Francisco for the event.

That Schmidt was sitting down with me proved even billionaires can let bygones be bygones. Our professional relationship got off to a rocky start shortly after I … Read more

Schmidt: Google Health targets 'the most important search'

Updated at 7:40 a.m. PT with Schmidt's news conference comments.

ORLANDO, Fla.--Search giant Google launched Google Health and announced major industry partners on Thursday, aiming to be the Intuit for personal health care, where people can access all their health information in one spot.

"Why would Google be here?" Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said during a keynote speech at the Health Information Management Systems Society trade show, which he said was not one the company has normally attended. "What's the most important search I could do?"

The answer: health. Nearly … Read more

Get ready to Google-ize your health records

UPDATE 2:30 p.m. PT with hospital CIO comment.

ORLANDO, Fla.--Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt will detail the company's plans for Google-izing the health care industry at a health care trade show on Thursday morning, starting with a consumer destination site called Google Health.

Schmidt is scheduled to give the morning keynote speech at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 annual conference here and will outline Google's vision on tackling the next Internet frontier of medical data. The move, rumored for a few years, makes sense, given how much people use the Web … Read more

Microsoft eyes health care app developers with $3 million fund

Got a good idea for a health care application? If so, you could get as much as $500,000 in funding from Microsoft.

Microsoft has created a $3 million fund to invest in applications built for its HealthVault electronic medical records platform, the company announced Monday at the start of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 annual conference in Orlando, Fla.

Launched in October, HealthVault is intended to allow people to access their medical records through any device, regardless of the health care provider or insurer.

Google is expected to make a health care-related announcement of its … Read more