Google, medical system team up
Spokane hosts trial records program
Search giant Google will dip its toes into Spokane’s medical system as the tech company works with the area’s electronic medical records manager in a trial program to see if patients get better health care when all their personal data is collected in one place.
A grant from the Washington State Health Care Authority will set up three statewide tests of online medical information-sharing, including the Spokane one managed by Inland Northwest Health Services.
INHS, jointly owned by Providence Health and Empire Health Services, manages electronic medical records for regional hospitals and many clinics.
Google in 2007 launched a service called Google Health, part of a national initiative to provide better access and control by individuals to their complete medical records.
In addition to Spokane, the other grant projects are with Community Choice Healthcare Network in Cashmere and St. Joseph Hospital Foundation in Bellingham.
Those two programs will use Microsoft’s Health Vault, a program and system similar to Google Health.
Another purpose of the project, announced this week, is to determine exactly how likely people are to use online medical records, said Dave Wasser, a spokesman for the Health Care Authority in Olympia.
The INHS-Google project will get $583,377. The Cashmere project is receiving $551,448 and Bellingham’s project will get $598,352. The money comes from the Washington Legislature for projects to improve statewide health care, Wasser said.
Development of the system will start immediately and is expected to be available for use in February.
Each pilot project will test the ability of consumers to maintain and share their personal health information when seeking care. Health industry experts say consolidating patient information in digital form should streamline healthcare delivery and provide better care.
The technology will include methods of protecting and encrypting personal information. Patients will have the ability to view and share a copy of their health information without recreating it from mounds of information, prescriptions and medical documents.