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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

Google to kick-start medical records program with Cleveland Clinic

Update at 12:19 PM PT: This story was updated to reflect the World Privacy Forum's position on PHRs in general.

Google is set to announce on Thursday that it will be using the Cleveland Clinic hospital in Cleveland, Ohio as the pilot site for its new personal health records initiative.

Between 1,500 and 10,000 patients at the Cleveland, Ohio, facility will participate in the project's test run, volunteering to have their medical records transferred to their Google accounts. The hospital already keeps electronic records for over 100,000 patients in an internal system called MyChart, … Read more

Finally, online house calls

After years of pleading from patients, doctors are starting to offer virtual office visits, or virtual house calls, depending on how you look at it. Of course it's not for major diagnoses or serious health problems--your doctor needs to check you out in person for the big stuff. But for minor complaints, routine check-ins, and the like, why not use videoconferencing? Until recently, insurers were a major roadblock. But now that's changing.

Read the full Los Angeles Times story: "Online house calls click with doctors"

IAC invests in HealthCentral

Barry Diller's InterActiveCorp has acquired a significant minority stake in The HealthCentral Network. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

HealthCentral, which boasts 7.7 million viewers, is a collection of more than 30 sites on healthy living and specific conditions where patients and experts share information.

Diller and Peter Horan, chief executive of IAC's media and advertising sector, will serve on HealthCentral's Board.

IAC invested in Medem, a suite of Web-based physician-patient communication services last year, and its Ask search engine has partnered with Healthline Networks.

IAC isn't the only big Internet company jumping … Read more

Cyborg tech predicted as next big disruptive technology

The next explosive growth in the microprocessor industry, according to chip guru Levy Gerzberg, won't be powering a consumer electronics device. It will more likely be planted somewhere in our own bodies, under our skin, delivering critical information and executing actions that can quite literally prolong our lives.

Speaking at a forum at the Consumer Electronics Show on disruptive technologies, Gerzberg, the CEO of microprocessor designer Zoran, said that by definition a "disruptive technology" is one that changes our lives in a drastic and positive way. With that in mind, there can be no greater disruptive technology, … Read more