Will Pan Canadian standards for our electronic health records leave Canadian snow birds out in the cold?

Industry leaders from Canada Health Infoway (Infoway), Canadian Healthcare Information Technology Trade Association (CHITTA, the Health Division of Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC)), and the Association of Health Technology Industry (AITS) have formed a task force to accelerate and promote the transition to a new set of pan-Canadian health information technology standards – intended to accelerate electronic health records in Canada.

What?

The task force will collaboratively work to promote the adoption of pan-Canadian standards, especially with point of service systems, by engaging clinicians, health care providers and vendors. Involving these stakeholders will support the planning required to ensure the interoperable electronic health record (iEHR) is leveraged and the adoption of pan-Canadian standards is accelerated.

So . . . On the one hand: Infoway and partners have formed a task force with a mandate for a new set of pan-Canadian health information technology standards. But why just “pan-Canadian”? It sounds like future Snow Birds could be left out in the cold when they need care during their winter sojourns in warmer climates. They will be able to get their money but with their Canadian standards may not be able to get their blood type. (Is it A negative or O negative?)

On the other hand: Infoway acknowledges that Microsoft and Google will be offering (with considerable clout) personal health records to Canadian consumers. See Infoway has personal health record concerns from HealthEdition.com

Our inventive IT industries [most of them multi-nationals] will hopefully carry the day and ensure a global standard that also works for Canadians. Maybe a "Panstandard?"

The Impact of the Electronic Health Record on Patient Safety: An Alberta Perspective

by Patrick Binns

Alberta is at the leading edge in developing its electronic health record (EHR), a provincial initiative to provide healthcare providers with immediate access to a patient's medication history and laboratory test results, regardless of where they are in the province, or where the patient's drugs or other treatments were ordered. The Alberta EHR was launched in October 2003. So far 6,000 healthcare providers have voluntarily signed on to use it, and benefits to patient safety have been reported. The EHR is an important part of healthcare renewal that is required to improve patient safety. Read the whole article by clicking here.

Wal-Mart partners with hospitals to rapidly expand in-store clinics

Analysts say the giant retailer wants the good will a trusted hospital name can provide. Hospitals, meanwhile, say they don't intend to compete with physicians.

By Pamela Lewis Dolan, AMNews staff. Feb. 25, 2008.

---

As big-name national retailers and pharmacy chains continue to open in-store clinics, a familiar face soon may enter the fray as well -- your local hospital.

Wal-Mart recently announced plans to partner with community hospitals across the country to open up 400 new retail clinics inside its stores by 2010, in addition to the 55 it already houses. Thirteen of those are owned and operated by hospital systems.

The rebranded "Clinic at Wal-Mart" also will sport the name of the partnering health system providing the nurse practitioners and physician assistants dispensing care, as well as the doctors overseeing them. But Wal-Mart would standardize the clinics so they have a similar look and feel, such as having each clinic post a price list and keep similar hours.

To continue reading this report please click here.

A First Comparison of Google Health and MS HealthVault

[Posted (on his own blog) by Vince Kuraitis on March 2, 2008. Intro only. To see the complete entry click on the title above.]

While details are thin, here’s a first pass at comparing and contrasting Google Health (GH) and Microsoft HealthVault (HV). Overall, there are many common features, some differences, and many common challenges between these two platforms.

A High Level Comparison
Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault
Personal Health Information (PHI) Platforms

There’s still not much information available about the specifics of GH, although they did release sketchy information on the Official Google Blog. I’ll comment on a few of the particulars.

Commonalities

Both are patient controlled — data is released only with patient permission.
For more, click here.

Google vs. Wal-Mart in Electronic Health Record Battle for Consumers

The most powerful consumer Internet company in the world and the world's most powerful consumer retailer seek to control consumer WEB access to the powerful health care industry.

Microsoft vs. Google for consumer health care dominance is the typical battle cry.

Nevertheless, in the fight to “consumerize” health care via technology, major U.S. employers are powerful stakeholders in their own rights, as they battle to control medical insurance costs for their workers on a daily basis.

How about Dr. Google vs. Dr. Wal-Mart? Click on the title and read on . . .

Canada Takes a Closer Look at Personal Health Records

April 17, 2008 – As the Internet has enabled consumers to manage important aspects of their personal lives from the relative comfort of their home, it is no surprise that Canadians are becoming increasingly intrigued by the prospect of being able to view and manage their health information using emerging personal health records (PHR) technologies.

Recent announcements by major players in the IT industry suggest such capabilities are just around the corner. Recognizing developments in this area are moving quickly, Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial health ministries have expressed support for Canada Health Infoway’s (Infoway) plan to discuss personal health record solutions with interested vendors and to explore how these technologies could be made available to Canadians in a secure manner.

According to Richard Alvarez, President and CEO of Canada Health Infoway, the federally-funded, independent, not-for-profit organization that is leading the adoption of electronic health records across Canada: providing Canadians and their health care providers with appropriate and secure access to their health information has been Infoway’s goal from the onset. The agency wants to ensure appropriate level of trust to protect the privacy and security of health information.

The government anticipates that the onset of personal health record solutions can accelerate the reality of electronic health records.

Microsoft, Wal-Mart and Google have been actively developing this technology. In February, 2008, Google launched a pilot with a medical institution committed to giving patients access to their own medical records: The Cleveland Clinic. A large academic medical center, Cleveland is one of the first partners to integrate on the Google platform.

For more on the Google initiatives see:

Google Conversations about Health & Records

A pilot with the Cleveland Clinic for health information access

Warning on Storage of Health Records. The New York Times Comments on Article from The New England Journal of Medicine

by STEVE LOHR

Published: April 17, 2008

In an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, two leading researchers warn that the entry of big companies like Microsoft and Google into the field of personal health records could drastically alter the practice of clinical research and raise new challenges to the privacy of patient records.

The authors, Dr. Kenneth D. Mandl and Dr. Isaac S. Kohane, are longtime proponents of the benefits of electronic patient records to improve care and help individuals make smarter health decisions.

But their concern, stated in the article published Wednesday and in an interview, is that the medical profession and policy makers have not begun to grapple with the implications of companies like Microsoft and Google becoming the hosts for vast stores of patient information.

The arrival of these new corporate entrants, the authors write, promises to bring “a seismic change” in the control and stewardship of patient information.

Today, most patient records remain within the health system — in doctors’ offices, hospitals, clinics, health maintenance organizations and pharmacy networks. Federal regulations govern how personal information can be shared among health institutions and insurers, and the rules restrict how such information can be mined for medical research. One requirement is that researchers have no access to individual patients’ identities.

For the full article click on the title of this blog entry.

Google Conversations about Health & Records

A pilot with the Cleveland Clinic for health information access

2/21/2008 07:46:00 AM

Posted by Alan Newberger, Engineering Manager

I suffer from poor eyesight and intense seasonal allergies, but I'm thankful that health issues occupy just a small portion of my life. Even though I'm rather healthy, I sometimes find myself needing access to accurate health information. I can get a long way by searching for health facts online, but I also need to incorporate what I find with my own history of conditions and treatments. I didn't even realize I had allergies until my early twenties -- for more years than I care to admit, I'd forget that the "cold" I came down with in April was suspiciously similar to the one I had at exactly the same time the year before. I've often been overwhelmed when trying to determine or track a condition, because my personal record of health information is either nonexistent, or it's spread on forms and receipts from (at least) a dozen doctors and five insurance companies.

Working as an engineer here on the health team, I've been excited to participate in building tools that will help me and others manage our personal health information more effectively. Many innovators in the healthcare industry have worked hard to make results of doctor visits, prescriptions, tests and procedures available digitally. By using the GData protocol already offered in many Google products, and supporting standards-based medical information formats like the Continuity of Care Record (CCR), our health efforts will help you access, store and communicate your health information. Above all, health data will remain yours -- private and confidential. Only you have control over when to share it with family members and health providers.

This week, we hit another important milestone. We launched a pilot with a medical institution committed to giving patients access to their own medical records: The Cleveland Clinic. A large academic medical center, Cleveland is one of the first partners to integrate on our platform. Because of their size and reach with patients who already have access to their medical records online, Cleveland has been a great partner for us to test out our data sharing model. Patients participating in the Cleveland pilot give authorization via our AuthSub interface to have their electronic medical records safely and securely imported into a Google account. It's great to see our product getting into the hands of end users, and I look forward to the feedback that the Cleveland patients will provide us.

Cleveland is just the first of many healthcare providers that will securely send medical records and information via Google APIs at your request. We've been hard at work collaborating with a number of insurance plans, medical groups, pharmacies and hospitals. While this pilot is open initially to just a few thousand patients, I see it as an important first step to show how Google can help users get access to their medical records and take charge of their health information.

Links to this post

Official Google Blog (2 сообщения)

Vote for the YouTube Awards Posted by Mia Quagliarello, YouTube Team We're thrilled to say that the second annual YouTube Awards are now live and ready for your vote. This year we've added five new categories: Short Film, Political, ...

Posted by Mob at 04:15

Patienteninformatie wereldwijd beschikbaar ......

Eind februari lanceerde Google officieel zijn Google Health. Een ontwikkeling van Google die het mogelijk maakt om persoonlijke gezondheidsinformatie op het internet bij Google op te slaan. Hiermee ontstaat een Elektronisch Patiënten ...

Posted by Cees Sterk at 13:48

Official Google Blog (2 сообщения)

How Google keeps your information secure Posted by Douglas Merrill, VP of Engineering As many of you know, we spend a lot of time around here thinking about new products to help you run your life more efficiently, whether that's ...

Posted by Mob at 23:08

Analysts Excited By "Google Health"

For those who read this blog regularly, you’ve no doubt noticed I’ve been focusing in a bit more on Google and what they’re doing in the realm of healthcare recently, with their work with the Cleveland Clinic and their entry into the ...

Posted by at 04:46

Official Google Blog (4 сообщения)

Google Calendar Sync Posted by Shirin Oskooi, Product Manager, Google Calendar I've suffered major headaches trying to sync all my calendars. I used the Microsoft Outlook calendar on my desktop computer at home, but since I wanted to be ...

Posted by Mob at 04:46

[Google] Google Health 米クリーブランドクリニックと提携

前回のエントリーに書いたように、今、情報流通を握るために、cloud computingで優位にたつことが必須であり、グーグルがこの競争で圧倒的に強いということがわかった。 そんなことを考えていた折、2月下旬にグーグルが米国クリーブランド病院と組んで、 ...

Posted by MareAzzurro at 05:01

Novedades de Google (II): Google Sites y Google Health

Siguiendo con el artículo de ayer sobre las novedades presentadas recientemente por Google, hoy toca hablar de Google Sites y de Google Health. Google Sites es un nuevo servicio de Google recientemente incluido en Google Apps, ...

Posted by Maria at 10:00

I heart the Google

I'm not exactly an early-adopter when it comes to new technology. I don't like to spend a lot of money on the latest souped up laptop mobile phone, PDA or digital camera. I prefer something that is cheap and popular because it's ...

Posted by Clinton at 23:34

Official Google Blog - Google Health, a first look

Google Health, a first look Posted by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search & User Products It's been a busy week for the Google Health team. Last week we announced our partnership and pilot with the Cleveland Clinic. This week, the team has been ...

Posted by Mob at 19:09

Durchschaubar bis auf die Gen-Ebene

Ist es das was uns mit Google blüht? Baynado hat eben erst einen guten und lesenswerten Artikel darüber geschrieben und lässt seinen Big Brother Fantasien freien Lauf. Mir fehlte die Erwähnung von Googles neuerliches Engagement in ...

Posted by admin at 16:20

Docteur Google : quelle médecine pour demain ?

Prologue ... Les moteurs, tous les moteurs, caressent depuis longtemps déjà le rêve d'être médecins. Après la bataille de l'information (gagnée "contre" la presse), après la bataille de la connaissance (sur laquelle ils disposent pour ...

Posted by olivierertzscheid at 10:30

Will You Put Your Life In Google’s Hands?

It’s been a long time coming and has a ways to go still, but Google Health is on the way. Google confirmed last week that it is testing this new product (click here for a screen shot) with the Cleveland Clinic, followed by another ...

Posted by Jarred at 09:00

Google Health: Details Emerging

Google’s Eric Schmidt presented the closing keynote at the HIMSS conference this week where more details about their latest initiative, Google Health, emerged. Marissa Mayer gave a good overview but the specific details are really ...

Posted by kevin.fox@vidoop.com at 14:17

Google's Personal Health Record Plans Unveiled

Yesterday, Google formally announced it plans for creating a personal health record (PHR) service at the Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society conference in Orlando. Google's announcement was three days after Microsoft ...

Posted by at 13:51

Google Gets Into Healthcare

I was down in Orlando this week for the annual HIMMS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) conference and exhibition, a show dedicated to transforming healthcare through IT. This is a new space for me, so I attended ...

Posted by at 05:10

[Google, helath, service, privacy, security, biz, platform ...

ORIGINAL: GoogleBlog.blogspot.com by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search & User Products 2/28/2008. It's been a busy week for the Google Health team. Last week we announced our partnership and pilot with the Cleveland Clinic. ...

Posted by at 01:22

Novas imagens do Google Health

Para aquecer ainda mais o lançamento oficial do Google Health, uma das parceiras de teste da Google, a Cleveland Clinic liberou mais algumas telas da versão de testes do serviço. A Google está fazendo parcerias e testes fechados com ...

Posted by nandokanarski at 19:48

Google Health: novas imagens divulgadas pelo Google

Em agosto de 2007, imagens do produto Google Health vazaram na internet revelando detalhes do novo programa de armazenamento de informações de saúde do líder em buscas da internet. Nesta última semana, o Google anunciou em seu blog ...

Posted by Renê Fraga at 19:16

Google Releases Health Screenshots

google health screenshot. Last week, Google announced that they have partnered with the Cleveland Clinic to integrate their Google Health platform with the clinic’s online medical records, making the patients’ more accessible. ...

Posted by Haochi at 17:26

More Vaporware From Google Health. Just Launch It Already.

techcrunch.com. Google’s Marissa Mayer put out another teaser today about its long-anticipated, much-delayed Google Health service. The post on the Official Google Blog offers some screen shots (below) and lays out what consumers can ...

Posted by thegies at 15:58

Google Health Teaser

Google recently developed a partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to test its Google Health application. Today, Google released a few teaser screenshots.

Posted by Akshay at 12:53

Google Health (オンラインPHRサービス)

GoogleのオフィシャルブログにGoogle Healthのテスト版 (first look) が紹介された。Google Healthは文字通り、ユーザが医療情報を含む健康に関する情報(PHR: Personal Health Records)を管理するサービスだ。現在、Cleveland Clinicと提携して、 ...

Posted by zubora at 12:31

Google Health, pilote à la Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic (site Internet accrédité HONcode) teste la future plate-forme de données médicales personnelles en ligne : Google Health.Cette clinique a déjà son propre système appelé "eCleveland Clinic MyChart" dont bénéficient 100 ...

Posted by Benj at 12:29

The Latest from TechCrunch

More Vaporware From Google Health. Just Launch It Already. Posted: 28 Feb 2008 11:03 AM CST. Google’s Marissa Mayer put out another teaser today about its long-anticipated, much-delayed Google Health service. ...

Posted by milliondollar at 10:42

Google pwns healthcare

It’s starting…Google is offering an online electronic health record management tool. Associated Press and Mashable both recently reported on their pilot Google Health program in Cleveland, and the Google blog announced it a day or two ...

Posted by katiewray at 10:37

Timeline on Google Health: "As soon as possible."

At a Q and A with reporters after his keynote speech, Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt said the free service would be available everywhere as soon as possible. Last week, Google announced that it was partnering with the Cleveland ...

Posted by Etan Horowitz at 08:04

links for 2008-02-28

La Enciclopedia de la Vida debuta en Internet · ELPAÍS.com. (tags: encyclopedia biologie wikipedia wiki science scholar database catalogue). Doctor-Doc. (tags: software subito article DocumentDelivery pdf issn) ...

Posted by Pablo at 17:17

Vers plus d’interopérabilité dans les Systèmes d’Information de Santé

La transformation des Systèmes d’Information Hospitalier (SIH) est un défi éminemment complexe. C’est le constat que peut faire chaque acteur d’une DSI d’un établissement de santé. Mais cette transformation est nécessaire car, ...

Posted by fred at 06:44

E’ un mondo difficile

Mentre la grande G inizia a curarsi anche della salute degli umani, oltre che dei cavi sottomarini, l’azione in borsa continua a scendere. Sara’ la recessione, sara’ la crisi della pubblicita’, saranno le truffe con i click fantasma ma ...

Posted by af at 14:39

Google PHR - Better than HIPAA?

The Institute for Health Freedom says that Google's personal health records system gives consumers greater control over privacy than the rules issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. ...

Posted by Jim Harper at 08:13

Google Me Healthy

Loved this “spirited” thread on Digg about Google’s plans for storing and accessing health records. Granted, some of the Digg users are a wee bit paranoid, (my favorite comment being “Hitler and Stalin were minor league compared to Page ...

Posted by Beth at 07:25

google health

O Google já se estabeleceu como ferramenta indispensável tanto para pacientes como profissionais da saúde em suas buscas por informações sobre doenças, tratamentos, medicamentos e diagnósticos. Procurando melhorar sempre a vida de seus ...

Posted by blogonlinedoctor at 05:26

Google Health, la salute viaggia in rete

In collaborazione con la Cleveland Clinic il colosso di Mountain View si prepara a testare Google Health, un servizio per la gestione online dei dati sanitari. La clinica statunitense aveva già avviato un proprio programma per rendere ...

Posted by Giuseppe at 22:30

Welcome to HIMSS

Well, here we are in Orlando and things are a-hoppin'. The sheer size of this conference is unbelievable to me -- the Microsoft booth is about as big as my house. It's a pretty surreal atmosphere as everybody tries to sell everything to ...

Posted by Sean Nolan at 15:10

Google Working with Cleveland Clinic

An interesting new move for Google is their partnership with the Cleveland Clinic to make health records available online for patients. Last week Google announced that they were working with the Cleveland Clinic to test and implement ...

Posted by Andrea Hoppes at 13:02

Google Health: The Beginning or the End of eHealth as We Know It?

Photo courtesy of Greg_Reser. Google announced the launch of a pilot project in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic to provide select patients access to their medical record using the Google health platform. ...

Posted by nburris at 11:32

Cleveland Clinic links to Google

The trend is certain: Google and Microsoft want your health record connected. I see a patient portal, connected to medication you take, connected to your doc and hospital and any care provider you deem appropriate (RHIO included). ...

Posted by Ernest at 10:08

Y! Alert: Pay Per Click News Articles Stories

Yahoo! Alerts My Alerts - Edit Alert. The latest from Pay Per Click News Articles Stories. Official Google Blog: A pilot with the Cleveland Clinic for health information access; Microhoo: Sergey Brin is Annoyed, and Unnerved ...

Posted by Real Estate & Travel Blogs at 06:29

Google的電子病歷

Google正朝著醫藥市場前進 Online Info: Google Health Official Google Blog: A pilot with the Cleveland Clinic for health information access Google Health Begins Its Preseason at Cleveland Clinic - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog.

Posted by Pegasi at 22:05

Google PHR roll-out: how personal will a personal health record be?

Last week, Google and the Cleveland Clinic announced a pilot of the Google personal health record (under 10000 patients), touted by Cleveland Clinic as a means to help its snowbird patients keep track of their medical records scattered ...

Posted by David Harlow at 19:34

Google Health comienza a funcionar

En Estados Unidos no existe el concepto de la Seguridad Social que hay en España, y por eso los documentos médicos pertenecen siempre a empresas privadas. Aprovechando esto, Google ha decidido comenzar una prueba piloto con Cleveland ...

Posted by Redacción at 06:43

links for 2008-02-23

Official Google Blog: A pilot with the Cleveland Clinic for health information access. “Cleveland is the first of many healthcare providers that will securely send medical records and information via Google APIs at your request. ...

Posted by Joe at 00:23

Personal Medical Records Portals Raise Privacy Issues

This week’s Google announcement of a secure online portal they are piloting that will allow consumers to save their personal medical records and allow Internet access to anyone they authorize, has sparked a growing privacy (or the lack ...

Posted by admin at 16:00

Google chính thức ra mắt dịch vụ lưu trữ hồ sơ sức khỏe

Cách đây một tháng Đầu Cọ có thông tin về việc Google sẽ cho ra mắt Dịch vụ chăm sóc sức khỏe trực tuyến. Nay Google vừa công bố về dự án thí điểm lưu trữ và tìm kiếm hồ sơ sức khỏe. Google sẽ lưu trữ những dữ liệu y học của vài ngàn ...

Posted by Đầu Cọ at 13:04

Google Plunges into the Online Health Industry

According to an article on Search Engine Land yesterday, Google is almost ready to make their long anticipated move into the online health industry. The SEL cites articles from the New York Times and CNN that explain Google’s latest ...

Posted by Christopher Noonan at 12:25

Google Moves into E-Health

Google engineering manager Alan Newberger blogged yesterday about the software giant’s pilot program with Cleveland Clinic, which integrates patients’ electronic health records with their Google accounts. The initiative seems the first ...

Posted by Jill R. Aitoro at 11:36

Google Tests its eHealth Platform, Privacy Promised

Google announced the start of a pilot project to test its own electronic health records storage platform. The same privacy concerns that arise when considering Microsoft’s HealthVault solution apply here: How is the data stored? ...

Posted by Michael Zimmer at 10:38

The Google PHR

The Google PHR . "Many innovators in the healthcare industry have worked hard to make results of doctor visits, prescriptions, tests and procedures available digitally. By using the GData protocol already offered in many Google products ...

Posted by Dr Aniruddha Malpani, MD at 09:51

Google's PHR to Debut

After months of secrecy, Google has announced its plans for a personal health record (PHR). They are debuting a pilot program with the Cleveland Clinic. In essence, here's what it looks like:. People can create personal medical ...

Posted by Fiona Gathright at 08:21

Google And Your Health Records

Google announced yesterday their involvement in an agreement with a Cleveland Clinic to start the storing of medical data for patience on a test bases. The pilot program will involve the storage of medical data which will be available ...

Posted by Ron Schenone at 07:18

Google Operating System

The Unnerving Microsoft. Posted: 21 Feb 2008 06:59 PM CST. In an aggressive post from the Official Google Blog, David Drummond argued earlier this month that "Microsoft's hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. (. ...

Posted by Harsha at 04:02

Google Health Pilot Launched!

Google Health Pilot Launched! For almost 18 months now, Google has been working on a product offering in the growing field of consumer health information. The much awaited Google Health (pilot) has been launched in association with the ...

Posted by Navneet Kaushal at 03:42

Google Health Beta

Google announced today its launch of Google Co-op Beta. Supported by information from sources like the National Library of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control, Google Co-op seeks to collect and distribute medical and health ...

Posted by Beth Ritter-Guth at 03:11

網絡集錦

Microsoft - Microsoft Makes Strategic Changes in Technology and Business Practices to Expand Interoperability http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-21ExpandInteroperabilityPR.mspx. Web Worker Daily - Microsoft to Open ...

Posted by Alan at 03:05

Google Health

Het was te verwachten dat na microsoft nu ook Google de gezondheidszorg in zou gaan met een EPD versie. Google noemt de service Google Health en werkt samen met de Cleveland Clinics. Screenshots zijn hier tevinden en hier de login ...

Posted by Michiel at 01:09

Google и Cleveland Clinic протестируют Google Health

Одна из клиник Кливленда, США, открыла совместную тестовую медицинскую программу с компанией Google. При помощи протокола GData, который уже внедрен в состав многих продуктов Google, Google сможет собирать и хранить медицинскую ...

Posted by at 00:44

Coming Soon: Google Health Records

In October 2007, Microsoft announced their entry into the health care arena with the launch of HealthVault — a web-based application to “…collect, store, and share the health information critical to your family’s well-being. ...

Posted by shwen at 22:05

Dear Google

In the news today, Google Health got a lot of press, regarding their pilot plan for health information access. I can only hope someone from Google happens upon my blog and is able to offer their company’s help. Dear Google, ...

Posted by px at 21:52

Google Health is gestart

Via verschillende blogs, portalen en zelfs bij de Telegraaf (en andere media) werd gisteren melding gemaakt van de start van Google Health. Uiteindelijk kwam het officiële weblog van Google ook naar buiten met het nieuws. ...

Posted by at 21:32

Google Wants Your Medical Records?

Apparently the much-rumored Google Health is going to enter testing soon with a group of patients from a clinic in Cleveland. I’m not sure what to think of this program yet. I don’t really like the idea of any other company having ...

Posted by Jared Barden at 20:00

Google Health联合Cleveland Clinic启动首次内测

Google去年的时候确认了Google Health会在今年初推出，但直至现在，我们会发现Google Health的登录页面仍然被转向Google Co-op。到底Google Health什么时候才出来？不用急，它今天就已经出来了。但遗憾的是，和很多Google大型产品一样，Google Health当前 ...

Posted by at 19:45

Opening up HealthVault

Microsoft seems to be doing a lot of opening up today (just look at TechMeme). And their health offerings seem to be no different. Heck they almost made Fred Trotter choke on his cheerios. According to Sean Nolan, a very well written ...

Posted by Deepak Singh at 19:41

Google Health: Privacy Disaster Waiting to Happen?

Those aren't my words. That's from the title to a post by John Paczkowski on the Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital blog. In regard to Google's new pilot program with the Cleveland Clinic to store patients' health records, ...

Posted by Kevin Arthur at 19:30

Google Health at the Cleveland Clinic

Here's the Cleveland Clinic's press release:. Cleveland Clinic is collaborating with Google to pilot features and services of a new health offering. The Google offering, not yet publicly available, will assist providers to create a new ...

Posted by Joshua Schwimmer, MD, FACP, FASN at 18:10

Google Health record pilot debuts - back to the future!

Google Health debuted today as a pilot project with patients at the Cleveland Clinic. This project will give patients access to their own medical records in a secure authenticated environment. You can read a little more about the ...

Posted by jreiswig at 16:52

Cleveland Clinic to test Google Health Pilot

Google started developing a service for storing and managing health records, a year ago. Google Health intends to help you make more informed decisions about your health by putting you in control of your health information. ...

Posted by DG at 15:47

Google Would Like to Get to Know Your Innards

Doctor Google can already read your mind, now it wants to read your blood and guts. The company launched a pilot program with the Cleveland Clinic that allows the medical center to upload records to Google Health accounts upon patients' ...

Posted by Betsy Schiffman at 15:18

Google Health Partnership with the Cleveland Clinic

In a joint announcement today, Google and the Cleveland Clinic have launched what is being called a pilot program with the Clinic's MyChart PHR users to connect to Google Health. On the Official Google Blog, some of the technical ...

Posted by John Sharp at 15:15

Google Health: al via la sperimentazione

E’ partita in questi giorni presso l’ospedale Cleveland Clinic la sperimentazione del servizio Google dedicato alla salute. Di Google Health, questo il nome del servizio, si parla ormai da diverso tempo e su di esso si sono fatte ...

Posted by Motoricerca.net at 12:53

Google Health appears

A Google blog posting is the first sighting of the Google Health offering, much expected to get a full launch at HIMMS next week. Along with HealthVault from Microsoft, this will bring massive changes to the health care data world, ...

Posted by Richard Dale at 11:34

Privat API

Det är lite lustigt att det Google nu gör med sin hälsotjänst i samarbete med Cleveland Clinic, att förse patienter med data från sina journaler direkt kopplat till sina Google-konton, är raka motsatsen till vad man promotar angående ...

Posted by Erik at 10:48

Google Health to Announce Pilot Program Today

Back in August last year, screenshots emerged which gave us an idea of what Google’s Health service was going to look like. At the time we noted that the success of Google Health was largely dependent on doctors using computerized ...

Posted by Ashley at 09:58

Google (reading) your health records

With the announcement of a Google Personal Health Records (PHR) pilot program, the company adds medical records to the gowing dossier of information it collects about its consumers. CNN reports:. The pilot project to be announced ...

Posted by fred at 09:47

Getting Healthy With Google - Google Health Pilot Program

Google today announced a pilot program (read: closed beta) of their health records application. The program will be conducted at Cleveland Clinic hospital in Cleveland, Ohio and will include under 10000 patients. ...

Posted by Josh Catone at 08:40

Cleveland Clinic to Test Google Health

More than a year after Google started developing a service for storing and managing health records, Cleveland Clinic will be the first test a pre-release version of the service. From a prototype revealed last year, we could see that ...

Posted by Ionut Alex Chitu at 05:25

Google Health: the beginning or the end of ehealth as we know it?

Getting to Maybe

Getting to Maybe promises to make us effective agents of change by telling us how to improve the world by applying the science and process of social innovation.

The book begins with a brief story about Bob Geldof's historic response to the famine in Ethiopia. Here is a little-known musician who created a highly successful global initiative - the Live Aid Telethon - to raise awareness and money. This venture was about the power of one.

The authors then describe a movement of multiple interactions that took Brazil from a very high infection rate for HIV/AIDS to a very low rate. No one leader could be identified.

Getting to Maybe analyzes how such changes happen and tries to answer the question, "How can the impossible become possible?" But the title of the book gives the authors away: there isn't an answer. The authors say that "there is no road map for social innovation; it is not a route that can be mapped step by step." Darned. Yet, the book talks about vision, a sense of calling, developing possibilities and the need for intense interactions, networking and information exchange. These factors, mixed with talent and skill in identifying and removing barriers, the authors say, will get you to "maybe."

I am not so sure. For example, by reading about the post-World War II Dutch emigration movement, I was shown a direct path of social innovation that was repeated family after family and year after year. The book To All My Children, by Albert Van der Mey (Paideia Press), demonstrates emigrants' motivations, their often uninhabitable beginnings, their resolve to build a better life, their commitment to community and social fabric and their passion and resolve. These qualities were the foundation of their economic and social success that evolved not many years later. There was a clear path, one often repeated by subsequent waves of immigrants. There was no maybe.

The authors get to "maybe" because that, it appears, is what they set out to do. If they had developed these themes and taken some risks, they might have presented a road map, a strategy and perhaps even a blueprint.

Yet, the many stories about social entrepreneurs are worth reading and serve to inspire those who have the vision. If anything, the reader will understand the importance of identifying roadblocks and reframing these as opportunities. This approach, of course, is not unique to social innovation.

The book is worthwhile, if only to read and re-read a short section on the objective of introducing patient-centred care. It quotes Dr. Don Berwick - CEO of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement and a Harvard professor - describing the treatment of a patient who, he says, is no fool and has a lot to contribute to his own care - if the system would let him. Find out how the patient is patronized, kept in the dark, fed strange foods and pretty much ignored as his care providers do everything to him and never with him. This situation is a problem that can be restated as an opportunity, and so become the impetus to design much-improved patient-centred care, with or without IT.

And if you do not know the story of Linda Lundström (and others like her), read the book. Ms. Lundström designs and makes women's clothing. She grew up in a community that included many First Nation families. When as a youngster she was faced by the reality of racism, she was moved to act. She returned to her hometown and applied her knowledge, skill and drive to engage the women and children, to offer hope and opportunity. This is the beginning of social transformation. As I write this, Ms. Lundström is facing her own challenges in dealing with the globalization of the fashion industry. In some form, she will re-emerge; just read the back of every price tag attached to her products: "I have a strong belief in the power of positive energy that all women are capable of radiating towards those we know, each other and the rest of the world."

It is the stories in this book that work. The social entrepreneurs profiled provide the learning and the motivation. They are inspiring.

A post-note: How to change the world

If you are interested in social entrepreneurs, find a copy of How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, by David Bornstein (Oxford 2004). The author is a compelling writer who has travelled around the globe to give readers a glimpse of individuals and movements that have changed the world. The stories he has selected are captivating. For example, he describes how Florence Nightingale was motivated by inexplicable obsession, action and orientation for growth with an unwavering belief in the rightness of her ideas - and so she was well suited to apply concentrated focus, practical creativity and long-term energy to advance system change.

Bornstein also writes about child protection in India, assisted living in Hungary, reforming healthcare in Brazil, care of AIDS patients in South Africa, micro credit and the Grameen Bank and the Child Survival Revolution attributed to James Grant, who headed UNICEF from 1980 to 1995.

At the end, Bornstein lists six qualities of successful social entrepreneurs, a blueprint that does not explain why people become social entrepreneurs but does make identifying them possible. And look, he says, at Changemakers.net, an initiative of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, which focuses on the rapidly growing world of social innovation. It provides solutions and resources needed to help everyone become a "changemaker" and presents compelling stories that explore the fundamental principles of successful social innovation around the world.

Heart transplant patient survives thanks to tiny temporary pump

Montreal – April 4, 2008 Heart specialists at the McGill University Health Centre are the first in the world to implant a minimally-invasive cardiac support system called the Impella 5.0 into a patient who was suffering from acute rejection after a heart transplant. The procedure was performed in the heart catheterization lab by Dr. Renzo Cecere, Director of the MUHC Mechanical Heart Program, and Dr. Jean Phillipe Pelletier, an MUHC Interventional Cardiologist, on February 19.

"In the worldwide experience of about 300 implants of the Impella 5.0, this is the first case of its use in a heart transplant patient suffering from severe acute rejection,” states Dr. Cecere. “This device allowed us to stabilize the patient's condition until she responded to the powerful anti-rejection medications. Without this new technology, this patient would likely not have survived."

Already available in the US and Europe, the Impella 5.0 is most often used as a bridge to a moreHide all permanent therapy, allowing doctors more time to develop a definitive treatment strategy. It is designed to help restore cardiac stability in patients who develop heart failure after heart surgery and who have not responded to standard medical therapy. In this case however, the device was implanted in transplant patient where the main purpose was to take the pressure off the patient’s heart in order to allow it time to heal from the trauma of an acute rejection.

The Impella 5.0 is made up of a miniature pump which is mounted in a catheter and inserted through a small incision in the patient’s groin area. The catheter is advanced from the groin to the left ventricle of the heart, where it can stay for up to ten days.

"The Impella system is the most recent acquisition of the MUHC Mechanical Heart Program, and further expands our ability to offer state-of-the-art treatments to patients with advanced heart disease," says Dr. Cecere. Health Canada accepted the technology for use in this country in June, 2007.


About the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is a comprehensive academic health institution with an international reputation for excellence in clinical programs, research and teaching. The MUHC is a merger of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University––the Montreal Children’s, Montreal General, Royal Victoria, and Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, as well as the Montreal Chest Institute. Building on the tradition of medical leadership of the founding hospitals, the goal of the MUHC is to provide patient care based on the most advanced knowledge in the health care field, and to contribute to the development of new knowledge.