The release of new software enabling personal medical devices to stream data results into and out of Google Health accounts, or other personal health records, marks a major play by Google in the emerging PHR space. The software, which was rolled out by Google, IBM and the Continua Health Alliance in early February, competes with Microsoft’s HealthVault offering and marks the search giant’s next step forward, just as the federal government prepares to throw funding at health IT initiatives. Read »

In my last column, I referenced the recent string of vendor partnership efforts aimed at streamlining existing technologies to deliver real-world functionalities to the healthcare industry. These partnerships, while meriting attention in their own right, arrived in tandem with a series of new product developments and upgrades that also warrant consideration. Read »