Google’s much ballyhooed entry into personal medical data management became a reality this month with the unveiling of Google Health. Not unlike services from other companies—including Microsoft—Google Health promises a place to safely store personal medical information and to access forums, disease and condition information, and wellness programs. Read »

I’ve been impressed with Google since its inception. At a time when others were scrambling to define themselves and drum up ad space value by clogging their pages with filler content—weather, stock quotes, headlines, localized “community” fare—Google was the only one that seemed to understand that users searching for answers don’t want to be distracted by a home page that resembles a fire sale catalog. Read »

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 »

A while back, I wrote about the Apple iPhone’s potential place in healthcare as the smartphone of choice, provided the innovative hardware developer makes a few key tweaks with physicians in mind. That column sparked a flurry of e-mails from Blackberry devotees, some of whom raised great counterpoints regarding the iPhone’s limitations in healthcare settings. So far, Apple hasn’t made any efforts to target healthcare specifically and, since that column was written, Research In Motion has unveiled the Blackberry Storm, an impressive touch-screen device that will likely knock the iPhone 3G out of the running when released later this year—at least as far as healthcare settings are concerned. Read »

A column I posted a few weeks back (“Healthcare’s smart smartphone pick,” 8/29/08) drew the ire of several Blackberry devotees, but also raised some legitimate questions regarding the iPhone’s place in the HIT market. One reader in particular nailed the fact that Apple’s security has been an issue with the iPhone from day one, and typing on an iPhone has been documented to be slower than on a Qwerty keyboard, which is the norm on most Blackberry devices. While he conceded that Apple’s browsing interface is superior to Blackberry’s, he questioned whether that capability alone would be enough to persuade physicians who already use a Blackberry to switch over. These are great points and I’ve wondered as much myself, but I think the answer lies largely in just how badly Apple wants to chase the healthcare niche. Read »

I’ve devoted a fair amount of column space to developments concerning efforts by Microsoft, Google and others to usher Personal Health Records into an era of common practice. We’ve weighed the privacy and security concerns, evaluated the competitive landscape, measured the potential value of strategic partnerships with major drugstore chains—even paid close attention when payers started getting into the mix, endorsing their contender of choice through a flood of announcements. Read »

Of all the companies offering personal health records on the Web, Microsoft and Google are the biggest and best positioned to hasten the adoption of electronic health records, a move broadly hailed as critical to both improving the quality of medical care and slashing costs. With Microsoft throwing its hat in the ring last October—and Google weighing in last month—the battle for market share between the tech titans is well underway. Read »