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Google, Cleveland Clinic are partners in long-awaited PHR pilot project

EHR Connection, March 3, 2008

Google, Inc., will begin storing the medical records of several thousand Cleveland Clinic patients in a pilot project already raising concerns about the volume of sensitive data entrusted to the popular Internet search engine, according to a February 21 Associated Press article.

The pilot will involve 1,500 to 10,000 patient volunteers who agreed to the electronic transfer of their personal health records (PHRs) for retrieval through Google, the news service reported. The project will not be open to the general public.

Health profiles will include information about allergies, medical histories, and prescriptions. Password protection will be similar to that required for use of other Google services such as e-mail and personalized search tools, according to the Associated Press article.

Google already processes millions of requests for health information and views this expansion into health records management as a logical extension, but the venture is raising concerns among those who think Google already knows too much about its users' interests and habits, according to the article.

Click here to read the Associated Press article about the PHR pilot project involving Google and the Cleveland Clinic.

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