Hmmm, my editor recently asked me the simple question, “Is it a good idea or not to give Google your personal health information or data?” Certainly, it would be a great advance for consumers to be able to access certain aspects of their medical histories such as current medications from any Internet-enabled device from most anywhere in the world and to be able to zip to their healthcare providers key information on such matters.

Why should those of interested in search care about Google Health? Well, the obvious answer is that what Google does matters, as it is the Goliath of Search.

But another reason to be interested in Google Health is that there is an interesting philosophical tension between Google’s mission of making information accessible and the need for privacy when it comes to medical records. Here is a case when Internet users might want to actually read Frequently Asked Questions.

For instance, on the FAQs page, Google states clearly, “Our corporate mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible…” Now as long as users accept that and are comfortable with the idea that what they enter of their own free will about their medical conditions is to be overseen by an entity with that mission and philosophy, then Google Health is for them. It refers to its Privacy Policy and states, “Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time.” Okay, just be aware of the wiggle room Google allows itself.

I was quite bothered by the evasiveness of some of the wording in the FAQS such as this, “If it’s free, how does Google make money off Google Health?

Much like other Google products we offer, Google Health is free to anyone who uses it. There are no ads in Google Health. Our primary focus is providing a good user experience and meeting our users’ needs.”

That does not answer the question and it is simply poor marketing to ask a question and then pretend to answer it. Such sophistry doesn’t inspire confidence and when you are talking medical information, trust is crucial.

What else is of interest on the FAQs page for those of interested in search? Well, there is this:

“Does the data I store in Google Health get used for other Google products, like Search?

Yes, we share information between Google products to enable cross-product functionality. For example, Google Health can help you save your doctors’ contact information in your Google Contact List. But no personal or medical information in your Google Health profile is used to customize your Google.com search results or for advertising. Also, other users cannot access your personal medical records through a search on Google.com.”

And this, “Is Google Health a new way to search for health information?

Not really. Google Health is mostly about helping you collect, store, manage, and share your medical records and health information. There is a search box at the top of every page in Google Health, and if you enter a search query there, you go to the Google.com search results page that you are used to. There is also useful health information built into Google Health, but Google Health is not a new health-specific search engine.”

I looked over the roster of those on the Google Health Advisory Council and it should reassure consumers that the chairman of the board of directors of the American Medical Informatics Association is on it, as is former FDA Commissioner, David Kessler, M.D. who is no slouch when it comes to protecting the interests of patients and consumers. There are representatives of such important players in most of the recent milestones for the betterment of patient care as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Genetic Alliance and top officials of American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. These are all people who have seen firsthand the incredible inefficiency and cost in patient safety and good practice caused by paper-based medical records practices and the fact that they are on this council is a ringing endorsement of Google’s initiatives in the health arena.

But is important to keep in mind that sometimes privacy matters are taken out of Google’s hands. Recall that in the summer of 2008, a federal district court judge ordered Google’s YouTube to surrender to Viacom its records regarding user activity on YouTube, including YouTube login IDs, IP addresses and so on.

Thus, my answer to my editor’s question would be, “Possibly, as long as you have read carefully every single word of the wording about privacy and definitely if convenience and not absolute privacy of your medical matters is your paramount concern. If you simply want to be able to conveniently access Web-based basic medical information about yourself that you have yourself approved should you find yourself in an emergency room someday or want to be able to quickly print out such information in a medical office setting or some such circumstances, then Google Health is for you.”

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am and is filed under Majors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.