Google outlines plans for medical data
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ORLANDO, Fla. — Google Inc. discussed its new Internet service that stores personal medical information in detail for the first time Thursday, with CEO Eric Schmidt saying it won’t sell ads for the venture.Schmidt described Google Health as a platform for users to manage their own records, such as medical-test results and prescriptions. It would be accessed with a user name and password, just like a Google e-mail account, and could be called up on any computer with an Internet connection.A primary benefit, Schmidt said, is the portability of records from one healthcare provider to the next. He repeatedly said no data would be shared without the consumer’s consent.The service is not yet public, but Schmidt said it will be an open system where third parties can build direct-to-consumer services like medication tables or immunization reminders. Google intends to profit by increasing traffic to its search site.Others like Microsoft and AOL co-founder Steve Case are vying for a share of this market.The biggest problem with these online health systems, privacy advocates say, is that they aren’t covered by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, commonly called HIPAA. The 1996 privacy law requires patient notification when their records are being subpoenaed, among other things.”Once you take sensitive healthcare information outside of the healthcare sector, it loses important protections that people have come to expect,” said Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. “Your physician has taken a Hippocratic Oath, and they are bound to have your best interests in mind. A publicly traded company is supposed to have shareholders in mind first.”Dixon said the issue of consenting online to release of information is muddy.”I think we’ve all consented to things online we haven’t meant to simply by failing to check or uncheck a box,” she said. “Something else very big in HIPAA is you can withdraw consent,” she said. “Will there be a way for people to undo the consent afterward? If you have accidentally consented to release the results of an HIV test or a cancer test, you might need to take that back.”
Tags: benefit, ceo, eric schmidt, google, google inc, internet, internet connection
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