Google Goes for EMR Market

In its continuing, relentless attempt to collect all the world’s information, Google is betting on being a big player in the electronic medical records (EMR) market. (This new push by Google is in addition to its ability to scan your emails, record your browsing history, photograph your house from above and from the street, and more.) Collaborating with the Cleveland Clinic, Google will be running a pilot program testing its version of EMR software. Though Cleveland Clinic already uses MyChart, the hospital’s own proprietary system, they will be offering up to 10,000 patients to sign up for Google’s offerings.

The pilot, an invitation-only opportunity offered to a group of Cleveland Clinic PHR users, plans to enroll between 1,500 and 10,000 patients.
It will test secure exchange of patient medical record data such as prescriptions, conditions and allergies between their Cleveland Clinic PHR to a secure Google profile in a live clinical delivery setting. The ultimate goal of this patient-centered and controlled model is to give patients the ability to interact with multiple physicians, healthcare service providers and pharmacies.
"Patients are more proactively managing their own healthcare information," said C. Martin Harris, M.D., Chief Information Officer, Cleveland Clinic. "At Cleveland Clinic, we strive to participate in and help to advance the national dialogue around a more efficient and effective national healthcare system."
"Utilizing Cleveland Clinic’s PHR expertise, this collaboration is intended to help Google test features and services that will ultimately allow all Americans (as patients) to direct the exchange of their medical information between their various providers without compromising their privacy," he added.
The pilot will eventually extend Cleveland Clinic’s online patient services to a broader audience while enabling the portability of patient data so patients can take their data with them wherever they go — even outside the Cleveland Clinic Health System.

Press release: Cleveland Clinic Collaborates With Google to Enhance Patients’ Healthcare Experience