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Health System Decision Support Report Product Manager

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Job Description

Works under minimal supervision to manage the financial, operational, clinical and quality data analysis, marketing strategic planning and demonstration/training to customers.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Plans and leads the technical design, development and programming related to analytic and clinical data-driven deliverables.
2. Researches, analyzes, and calculates quality indicator measures related to clinical topics and conditions across all healthcare settings; performing integrity analysis to identify data quality and integrity issues, as well as random sampling, benchmarking and trending of data.
3. Define requirements for ad-hoc analysis queries and dash boarding involving outcomes analysis, health service research activities, testing various measurement approaches to support customer reporting.
4. Manages bottlenecks, provides escalation management, anticipates and makes trade-offs, balance the business needs versus technical constraints, and maximizes business benefits while building great customer experiences.
5. Designs reporting templates and creation of report mock-ups and finals reports illustrating the results of the analytic and programming processes.
6. Performs client needs analysis and assessment; collaborates with clients and business analysts to identify and clarify program, business and functional requirements; management of client expectations and relationships.
7. Provides input and subject matter expertise into Business Intelligence solutions to minimize the frequency of ad hoc data requests and analysis.
8. Provides gold standard for cross-departmental testing and parallel processing efforts; develops test case scenarios; identifies bugs and monitors and tracks through resolution.
9. Researches and identifies opportunities for the institution to further distinguish itself among the healthcare community.
10. Define a long term produce roadmap, including technical, business development, and marketing initiatives.

Job Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, healthcare administration, or public health, eight (8) years experience with project consulting and matrixed management responsibilities in complex organizations. Master’s degree preferred.

Decision Support Manager - Health Systems

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Job Description

Works under minimal supervision to provide health system decision support for senior management, design and format Health System leadership management reports, and define business rules for use and display of data to monitor health system performance.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Provides managerial oversight for Decision Support functions and staff.

2. Supports and coordinates institutional wide financial and clinical initiatives.

3. Serves as a resource to both Financial and Clinical leadership to support organizational decision making, clinical and financial initiatives and strategic planning activities.

4. Develops other data collection tools, analyzes data, and provides input in the making of operational decisions as required.

5. Analyzes reports and provides senior management with written and verbal reports on pertinent variances/trends, providing recommendations for process improvements.

6. Meets with managers and directors to design and develop analytical reports that assist them with their strategic or operational decision making process.

7. Identifies opportunities to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness, including faster, easier, more efficient ways to manipulate and report data.

8. Works effectively with related department managers in the development and maintenance of reports.

Job Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business, healthcare administration, public health or related field and 8 (eight) years experience in decision support management. Master’s degree preferred.

Learn More about UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
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台灣也能有專屬的Google Health服務？

ZDNet記者蔡宜秀／台北報導 2009/03/18 05:00:00

看官們請別誤會，本文不是要獨家掲露Google台灣有計劃將目前僅運用在美國的Google Health搬至台灣，至少，截至今日還未聽到Google台灣有邀約台灣醫療(健康)單位參與該平台的動作；本文要討論的議題是，台灣民眾有沒有可能跟 美國民眾一樣，有個免費的開放性醫療管理平台紀錄個人健康資訊。

開放性醫療管理平台知易行難

在討論台灣民眾是否也能擁有專屬的開放性醫療管理平台前，讓我們先一同來看看Google怎麼作：

Google Health係一個能讓民眾將自己的電子病歷等醫療紀錄放置於其上的開放性醫療管理平台； 而且，透過與醫療業者合作的方式，Google Health亦有提供各式健康管理服務，如健康紀錄(Profile detail)、重要的用藥紀錄(Import medical records)、瀏覽健康服務(Explore health services)、分享個人檔案(Share this profile)與線上搜尋醫生資訊(Medical contacts-find a doctor)等。

圖說：Google Health的服務型態

Google Health的出現不僅有助於實現Health 2.0(由民眾自行管理自己的健康資訊)，亦有助於活絡健康照護產業。對使用者來說，Google Health等同是個人的健康小管家，因為該平台可提醒使用者用藥時間以及視使用者需求提供醫療相關資訊等；對使用者的親朋好友來說，Google Health則是一個助其了解使用者健康狀況的好幫手，當然，前提是使用者願將其放置在Google Health上的健康資料分享給親朋好友；對醫療業者來說，Google Health的出現，除有助於其曝光，亦可避免其陷入醫療人手不足的窘境。

Google Health不易在台推行。Google Health雖好，但我認為短期內Google台灣不大可能將Google Health服務搬到台灣來，理由很簡單：尚未中文化、不是每個人(如老年人等)都有能力使用這些免費的「線上」健康管理服務，以及Google台灣上哪 去找願意與其合作的醫療(或健康)單位等。

事實上，就算前面三個問題都解決了，也還有法規(醫療法與醫師法等)問題存在，如醫療法規定病歷等資訊只有病患的直屬醫生與照護人員可 看。

學術單位已開始規劃專屬台灣民眾的開放性醫療管理平台

Google Health不易推行不代表台灣民眾無福享受─嶺東科技大學正致力於研發一套開放性的醫療管理平台。

「無論使用者是使用哪種終端感測裝備，以及至哪家醫療院所就診，都可將上述醫療資訊匯至嶺東科大的醫療管理平台上。」嶺東科技大學資訊 網路系系主任陳志明表示，鑒於台灣健康照護產業欠缺一套開放性的醫療管理平台，嶺東科技大學遂以強調開放性的IBM Maximo為核心，以及自行研發出的居家閘道器(OSGi)等技術為輔，建置出一套可用來監測、紀錄、維護(健康檢查)、保養(看診)、追蹤與警示使用 者(受照護者)的生(心)理狀況的開放性醫療管理平台。

嶺東科大是以所有民眾為目標市場。「除了老年人口需要醫療管理平台進行健康照護，小孩子等也有此需 求」他指出，雖然嶺東科大以健康4U計畫申請教育部補助時，是以銀髮族為該平台的首要服務對象，但鑒於每個人都需要一套醫療管理平台，遂計畫於其後將平台 開放出去，讓每位台灣民眾都可以透過該平台管理自己的健康狀況。

圖說：嶺東科技大學建立的開放性醫療管理平台架構示意圖。

有開放平台也很難活絡台灣的健康照護產業─尚未建立完整的產業生態鏈

在「鴻海進軍健康照護產業 會產生什麼漣漪？」一文中，我已簡單描述過台灣健康照護產業的一些狀況，諸如台灣的健康照護產 業因日趨小型化(私人化/區域化)導致健康照護服務無法互通、非所有醫療單位都有能力提供所謂的健康照護管理服務、欠缺具體可明的獲利模式，以及現行的醫 師法與醫療法的部分規定有礙健康管理產業發展等，而且，就連鴻海集團的加入，也無助於解決上述所有問題，更何況是嶺東科大？

「開放平台有助於建構完整的產業生態鏈，至少有拋磚引玉的功效，」陳志明指出，台灣的健康照護服務產業之所以沒有任何堪稱具體的商業營 運模式，與醫療單位提供的健康照護服務多走向小型化、區域化有關。

他解釋，小型化、區域化除意味著使用者無法將現在使用的A家健康照護服務攜至B家去外，對提供終端感測儀器與心理諮詢輔導等醫療相關服 務的業者來說，小型化意味著使用人數不多，使用人數不多則意味著業者可從中獲利的比例有限，在這樣的狀況下，為取得政府科專補助的醫療業者多半是抱持觀望 的心態，在看健康照護市場。

嶺東科大將師法Google Health解決商業模式不明等窘境。第一步是以城鄉包圍鄉鎮的方式解決一線醫療院所不願釋出民眾就診資料等問題：透過與二線醫療院所 合作的方式，如大甲李綜合醫院與埔里基督教醫院附設愚人之友基金會等，讓民眾適應與接受健康照護服務，累積一定的使用人數後，即可向一線醫療院所商討釋出 民眾就診資料一事。

陳志明指出，在解決民眾無法取得健康資料這個問題後，嶺東科大打算透過整合醫療管理平台與電子商務平台的方式，賺取虛 擬醫療商城營運費用與廣告刊登費用，「嶺東科大打算師法Google Ads機制，推出使用者點擊後方計價的廣告收費模式。」他說。

僅有嶺東科大拋磚引玉還不夠。首先，嶺東科大雖建置出開放性醫療管理平台，並試著提出一套看來頗具 體的商業(獲利)模式，但未必有助於活絡台灣健康照護產業；理由是，法規依舊侷限了健康照護產業發展，再加上，嶺東科大雖有意將研發出的醫療管理平台開放 出去，但仍處於「想」這麼做而非「已經」這麼做的階段。

台灣的健康照護產業到底有無搞頭？答案是有，但市場經濟規模有多大─待議。

台灣的健康照護市場尚未起飛。近幾年來，伴隨老年人口逐漸增加，以及台灣政府的加持，確實有不少業 者(醫療院所與相關的軟硬體業者)競相投入該塊市場，只不過，礙於服務不可攜(與醫療院所的本位主義有關)、銀髮族不大會操作ICT產品、醫療法與醫師法 等法規限制，以及使用者仍對健康照護服務的資訊安全有所疑慮等，真正買單的使用者數目仍不多，使用者不多，商機自然有限。

鴻海集團與嶺東科大的加入有可能改善使用人數不多這個最根本的問題。由於鴻海集團本身的使用者(員 工)就夠多，因此，即便鴻海集團與訊聯合資成立的康聯生醫科技最後沒將健檢中心開放給一般民眾使用，光就鴻海集團這個使用單位，即有一定的經濟規模；至於 嶺東科大，雖然其尚未全面對外開放其研發的開放性醫療管理平台，以及招募到許多願意至該平台上開設虛擬醫療院所(商城)的業者，但其的出現，確實是有助於 活化台灣的健康照護產業─至少目標市場已從原先著重的銀髮族擴展到全民。

透過策略聯盟活化健康照護產業生態─提供整合式醫療服務。由於健康照護產業所涉及的服務種類極多且 廣，絕非單一醫療業者可以提供，因此，業者能否放開心胸，尤其是一線醫療院所，透過策略聯盟提供整合式醫療服務，亦將左右市場規模；畢竟，當醫療服務可與 保險、保全、娛樂、教育、金融等服務進行搭配銷售時，比較有機會吸引使用者買單、甚至是提升醫療服務的使用率。

事實上，台灣的醫療業者多已明瞭策略聯盟的重要性，如三軍總醫院、惠普和年代數位媒體於去(08)年底發表的「M-Taiwan應用推廣計畫」階段成果：「M-Life全視界生活網」及 「M-Care全民行動照護網」等，只不過，老話一句，因為服務不互通，所以，買單的使用者有限，但該問題或許在開放性醫療平台問世後，即可解 決。

蔡宜秀，一個非科班出身但卻十分熱愛IT的媒體人，打從2005年底成為IT媒體人後，一直是以軟體線為 主，直到2007年底才開始接觸伺服器等硬體產品......一路走來，有人說她是披著乖順羊皮的大野狼(因為有些時候的用字較為辛辣？！)、有人說她是 個認真的媒體人......她自己覺得，她是站在喜愛與認同IT的角度上，與大家一同分享所見所聞，所以，在這裡，你不會看到硬梆 梆的新聞式報導，你會看到的是，她，蔡宜秀對IT產業的觀察與想法~

Progress along developmental tracks for electronic health records implementation in the United States

(Health Research Policy and Systems 2009, 7:3)

David W Hollar School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

Received: 19 September 2007
Accepted: 16 March 2009
Published: 16 March 2009

Abstract

The development and implementation of electronic health records (EHR) have occurred slowly in the United States. To date, these approaches have, for the most part, followed four developmental tracks: (a) Enhancement of immunization registries and linkage with other health records to produce Child Health Profiles (CHP), (b) Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) demonstration projects to link together patient medical records, (c) Insurance company projects linked to ICD-9 codes and patient records for cost-benefit assessments, and (d) Consortia of EHR developers collaborating to model systems requirements and standards for data linkage. Until recently, these separate efforts have been conducted in the very silos that they had intended to eliminate, and there is still considerable debate concerning health professionals access to as well as commitment to using EHR if these systems are provided. This paper will describe these four developmental tracks, patient rights and the legal environment for EHR, international comparisons, and future projections for EHR expansion across health networks in the United States.

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.health-policy-systems.com/content/7/1/3

Infovell Reborn as DeepDyve to Take on Google, Yahoo, Microsoft

By Clint Boulton
2008-11-11


Infovell, the search engine that lets users sift through medical journals, Wikipedia and patent documents, is now called DeepDyve. The name change coincides with the launch of the site's consumer-facing search, which is free but supported by ads. DeepDyve will also now search IT, clean technology and energy content.

Update: Infovell, whose search engine for scouring the deep Web turned heads at Demo in September, Nov. 11 changed its name to the more Web 2.0-friendly moniker of DeepDyve to reflect its expansion into the consumer search market.

The search startup this quarter is also expanding beyond searching for long lost content in life sciences, patents and Wikipedia to index content in information technology, clean technology and energy. These results could be useful in the current gloomy economy for users looking to conserve resources.

DeepDyve CEO William Park told eWEEK his company now offers a free research engine for anyone who wants to access the deep Web, or the technical publications, databases, academic journals and other proprietary information that users won't find in a typical search on Google, Yahoo or Microsoft.

DeepDyve partners directly with major publishers to gain access to content that today's search engines don't cover. DeepDyve currently indexes 500 million pages but by covering IT, clean tech and energy, the company aims to grow its index to more than a billion pages.

The site has been redesigned with a more Facebook-like user interface. Slides of the new user interface can be viewed here.

Park hopes DeepDyve will be the destination of choice for consumers frustrated by the results to more complex queries they're getting from today's search engines. He cited information from IDC that claims more than 42 million consumers spend 25 hours per month online digging for business and personal information.

To help users find what they want, DeepDyve uses a patented KeyPhrase technology, which lets users copy an entire article as their query and find relevant results, such as medical journals or patent documents.

The DeepDyve research engine for consumers provides access to the same information as the company's subscription offering. Fair warning: This version will be supported by ads.

The roughly 2,500 users who signed up for Infovell's free 30-day trial have been enrolled in the beta program. Next year DeepDyve will emerge from beta and users will be able to go to the site and see a search box without registering, Park said.

DeepDyve will continue to offer its DeepDyve Pro premium subscription, which carries no ads, to institutional researchers for $45 per user, per month.

Multiseat licenses, with per-seat discounts, are also available. DeepDyve Pro includes advanced functionality, such as dynamic foldering, visual clustering and additional filtering.

Search Engine Land's Chris Sherman has more on DeepDyve here.

Google now tracking flu trends via search

by Josh Lowensohn
November 11, 2008 2:52 PM PST

Google on Tuesday unveiled a new site to track the progress of the common cold.

Using the same keyword tracking technology found on Google Trends, it keeps an eye on people searching for queries involving the word "flu" and tracks them both by date and location.

What makes the technology so fascinating is that its data set goes back to 2003, and has been cross-referenced with the last several years of survey data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Google says that because its own system is based on a constant flow of searches as opposed to surveying techniques it's able to provide results one to two weeks faster than the CDC.

The same trending technique could be used in tandem with other organizations to track contagious viruses or threats besides the common cold, including AIDS, bird flu, and Africanized honey bees.

One limitation of the current system is that it does not track worldwide flu traffic. There is, however, quite a bit to discover from data from years prior--especially when you get several years that stack up on top of each other with similar rises and falls during certain parts of the year. According to Google's chart, we're about three weeks from hitting the heavy season, which goes until early January.

Google Flu Trends tracks flu activity across the United States.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

A Health 2.0 Overview, Through the Eyes of a New Diabetic

Written by Richard MacManus / November 26, 2007 7:36 PM /

Last Monday I found out from my doctor that I have Diabetes (probably Type 1; I need more tests to confirm), which basically means high blood sugar. It was quite a surprise, as I have no family history of diabetes and it is relatively uncommon to get Type 1 diabetes in your 30's. However, I soon discovered that diabetes affects more than 240 million people worldwide. So it is something a lot of people have. Indeed, chances are you know of someone with it or you may even have it yourself. Because it is so widespread, there is a lot of web data, social networking options and even web apps that cater to people with diabetes.

In this post, I'm somewhat selfishly going to review the diabetes sites and apps I found across the Web. But this post also serves, I hope, as an introduction to the more general topic of 'Health 2.0' - a.k.a. healthcare that uses the Internet. Over the weekend, Frank Gruber posted an excellent round-up of health 2.0 resources on the Web. Frank pointed out that the big sites, like Web MD and HealthLine, are the resources most used. But there are a lot of newer sites and apps that offer a more modern, Web 2.0 approach. He also noted that both Microsoft and Google are making moves in health 2.0. For example see our story earlier this year on Microsoft acquiring MedStory.

Defining Health 2.0

As with Web 2.0, there is a lot of debate about the meaning of the term 'health 2.0'. According to the Health 2.0 conference blog, their definition "is currently focusing on user-generated aspects of Web2.0 within health care but not directly interacting with the mainstream health care system." This means things like search, communities, and tools. As yet Health 2.0 user-generated content has not been connnected to the wider health care system - which, according to the Health 2.0 conference organizers, hasn't even adopted Web 1.0 yet!

Search

The first thing you might do if you discover you have diabetes, is do some Web searches on it. In my case my doctor and specialist had already explained the basics of the condition to me: it is fairly easily managed, via testing your blood a few times a day and injecting insulin maybe a couple of times a day (it varies by person). Also you must drastically cut your sugar intake in food and drink, and exercise moderately. There is no cure at this point for diabetes, so this routine must be followed indefinitely. So I was told all that, but still I was curious to find out everything I could... so, to the Web search engines I went!

A Google search is where I started; and at the top of the first page of results is the Wikipedia definition. This is a very thorough and long page, explaining what diabetes is and pointing to over 50 external references. A lot of people still complain about the Wikipedia as a source of reliable information, but as a starting point on diabetes it is exemplary.

My next port of call was a specialist health search engine. Frank mentioned Healia in his post, a health search engine that gives you filtering options. In my tests, it didn't really throw up much new info that I needed. WebMD had better info, but it wasn't presented very attractively.

Healia

Another 'vertical search' option for health is Kosmix, which has a kind of search-portal for many different verticals - one of which is diabetes. Now this is more like it! There are guides, images, Q&A, videos, "trusted sources", news, a forum, and more - all very nicely presented and easy to access. Even the ads were relevant to diabetes. There are a lot of areas to explore in this portal from Kosmix, making it the best search resource I found on the subject. But it will depend on what you're looking for - in my case, variety and good presentation are key factors to help me explore this new condition I have.

Kosmix Health

For more info on health search engines, see of course our network blog AltSearchEngines. Editor Charles Knight wrote a post in June reviewing health search engines (including a list of them) - his conclusion was that WebMD was best, but he also recommended revolutionhealth , CognitionSearch , Healthline , among others. TauMed is another one I've come across that I like. Finally, check out the Great Debate on health search engines on ASE.

Health 2.0 Blogs

Search is all very well for finding information, but what if you're after a more personal connection - or social groups.

The Health 2.0 Blog is a great starting point for healthcare on the Internet. It's a community blog that started in November. There's also an accompanying wiki and Facebook group.

The Diabetes Mine blog is a more personal day-to-day reflections blog about diabetes, by Amy Tenderich. The most recent post is very relevant to me - it's about being diagnosed with Type 1 in your mid-30's!

Another great site for diabetics is dLife, an attractive portal of info and forum options. It recently launched an aggregator for diabetes blogs, Blogabetes [via ScienceRoll].

dLife

There are many more blogs related to health and technology - check out the blogrolls of the above sites, or a list such as this one.

Social Networks

So what can social networks provide for diabetics? As to be expected, there are a number of Facebook groups about Diabetes - over 500 of them in fact! The biggest is 'Find a Cure for Juvenile Diabetes', which has 5,470 members. I joined up to a few of these groups, but I wanted something more.

I eventually found Tu Diabetes, an online community for people with diabetes that was created in March 2007 by Manny Hernandez using Ning. Manny describes it as a place "where the members help each other out, educate ourselves and share the steps we take every day to stay healthy while living with this very serious condition." One person described Tu Diabetes as "like 'MySpace' on insulin"! The site recently reached 1,400 members and it is a great example of a niche social network, as the below introductory video from Manny explains:

Diabetes Web Apps

SugarStats is an app that allows you to track, monitor and share your blood sugar levels "and other key statistics" online. It is based out of Hawaii and was founded by Marston Alfred, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes over 15 years ago. Normally diabetics have a paper journal in which they log the blood tests we are required to carry out 3-4 times a day. SugarStats has potentially very useful aggregation, graphing and trending tools, plus you can share your stats with relatives or other diabetics. SugarStats also has a mobile version - even Twitter integration!! For more reasons why online diabetes tracking is better than the paper-based version, see this post on the SugarStats blog.

SugarStats

There is a free and premium version from $8.29 per month (with extra features such as Food/Carb Tracking & Graphs, and SSL security). I've signed up to the free version to try it out, but I can see myself upgrading if it works well for me. Overall, SugarStats is an excellent use of web 2.0 to enhance healthcare treatment.

Health 2.0 Events

Getting back to health 2.0 in general, in recent years health 2.0 conferences and events have sprung up. There was a BarCamp-like event called HealthCamp at the end of last year (no sign of a follow-up event though). The Health 2.0 Conference was held on September 20th, 2007 in San Francisco. There's some good coverage of this event on the Diabetes Mine blog.

The next Health 2.0 conference is 3-4 March, 2008 in San Diego, and the topic is "Connecting Consumers & Providers". For more information see www.health2con.com.

Conclusion

This is a pretty indulgent post really - basically I needed to do research into diabetes management for my own purposes, and I have blogged what I discovered. But beyond that, I hope this post gives you a good idea of what is available on the Web when it comes to healthcare.

There are a lot of people much worse off than me, both in terms of diabetes (it's much tougher for children to cope with) and other health problems that people endure. Also it's still early stages in "health 2.0" - i.e. for some the Web may be of little use. But the Web is increasingly enhancing healthcare - certainly it is very useful with a condition such as diabetes, which is common worldwide and is something that can be managed on a daily basis.

I'm sure I've missed some health 2.0 and/or diabetes resources, so please add in the comments. Also if you want to discuss how the Web has helped you (or not) with a health issue you've experienced, then feel free to leave a comment.

Source: ReadWriteWeb
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/health_20_overview_diabetes_web.php

Google makes health service publicly available

By RACHEL METZ, AP Business Writer
Mon May 19, 10:24 PM ET

NEW YORK - Google's online filing cabinet for medical records opened to the public Monday, giving users instant electronic access to their health histories while reigniting privacy concerns.

Called Google Health, the service lets users link information from a handful of pharmacies and care providers, including Quest Diagnostics labs. Google plans to add more.

Similar offerings include Microsoft Corp.'s HealthVault and Revolution Health, which is backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case.

Google Health differentiates itself from the pack through its user interface and things like the public availability of its application program interface, or API, said Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing the service.

Mary Adams, 45, a Cleveland Clinic patient who participated in the Google Health pilot, said that she was initially concerned about the privacy of her medical information.

Still, she felt safe enough to enroll and has been using the service for about six months, linking it with an online health management tool from the Cleveland Clinic and adding information on prescriptions and doctors to her online profile.

"I hate pieces of paper lying around my house, so I love the fact that i can log on with my normal Google login info and see everything at a glance," she said, adding that with its public availability she'll try to get her sister to use it.

The service, still a non-final "beta" version, does not include ads. But Mayer said Google doesn't plan to start placing them to support the site. A search box on Google Health pages leads to standard Google search results pages, where there are advertisements.

Besides importing records from providers, users can enhance their password-protected profiles with details such as allergies and medications, they can search for doctors and they can locate Web-based health-related tools.

Mountain View-based Google Inc. views its expansion into health records management as logical because its search engine already processes millions of requests from people trying to find information about injuries, illnesses and recommended treatments.

Before this public launch, Google stored medical records for a few thousand patient volunteers at the nonprofit Cleveland Clinic.

The health venture provides fodder for privacy watchdogs who believe Google already has too much about the interests and habits of its users in its logs of search requests and its vaults of e-mail archives.

Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said services like Google Health are troublesome because they aren't covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.

Dixon's group issued a cautionary report on the topic in February on such third-party services.

Passed in 1996, HIPAA set strict standards for the security of medical records. Among other things, the law requires anyone seeking a patient's records by subpoena to notify the patient and give the patient an opportunity to fight the request.

By transferring records to an external service, patients could unwittingly make it easier for the government, a legal adversary or a marketing concern to obtain private information, Dixon said.

"We are in uncharted territory here. A privacy policy, I don't think, is enough to protect what needs to be protected in a doctor-patient record," Dixon said.

Mayer said, however, that users medical records "are generally speaking as safe with Google as they would be with a HIPAA-regulated entity."

During a webcast Monday, she said users' health information is stored at Google's "highest level of security" on computers that are more secure than those used for the company's search functions.

Mayer said in an interview with The Associated Press that Google will not aggregate users' health information across services so activity on the health service will not show up in search results.


Source: Yahoo News
On the Net:http://www.google.com/health