TechCrunch, a technology blog focused on Internet-related products and companies, reports on the brewing partnership between Healthline (medical information portal) and Aetna (health insurance company) to create a personalized health portal. Similar to the Google and Cleveland Clinic deal, Healthline will benefit from a rapid infusion of new users, comprising the thousands of individuals insured by Aetna. It is unclear what Aetna gains from this marriage, as additional details surrounding the collaboration are yet sparse. It seems that dynamic duos are now the trend to remain competitive in the personal health record (PHR) industry.

Related Posts:

• Google Health collaborates with Cleveland Clinic
• Industry giants vie for your online health records

Google’s official blog revealed today some details and screenshots of its yet unreleased Google Health project, a web portal for your personal health records (PHR). It appears the site will provide more than just storage space for medical records. Complementary tools may include health information resources and a doctor directory. The two screenshots are only a first look into the new service, and it is likely that more features will be announced in future posts.

Related Post: Google Health Collaborates with Cleveland Clinic

Last month, I wrote an article on the brewing battle between Microsoft and Google to create the de facto portal for your online personal health records (PHR). It seemed that Microsoft’s HealthVault may have had the edge with its earlier deployment and collaboration with the Mayo Clinic.

In a move to equalize the playing field, CNN recently reported that Google Health will work with the Cleveland Clinic to store records of several thousand patient volunteers. Google has been relatively silent about its unreleased project, but I assume it will primarily serve as a portable repository of personal medical information, including demographic data, past medical and surgical histories, current medications, and allergies. It is reasonable to speculate that the web service would also store select test results and discharge summaries from participating hospitals. I doubt that the excruciating details of progress notes or consultations will appear in the near future.

Details about the Google Health project are largely unavailable to the public, but it is clear that both Google and the Clinic have potential to reap great benefits from this symbiotic relationship. Google will instantly acquire a user base in the thousands, while drawing consumers to its brand of products. More importantly, Google would create a working hospital-web service model to market to other health care centers. Hospitals are the natural gold mines of medical records. The web service (e.g., HealthVault or Google Health) that more quickly gains broad acceptance by hospitals will likely dominate the market. The exorbitant costs to develop and maintain an EMR (electronic medical record) infrastructure may prohibit interested hospitals from integrating with multiple web services; that is, it may have to choose one or the other, likely the more popular or widely accepted web service. There is a reason why Windows dominates the desktop OS market (hint: it is not for technological superiority).

As for the Cleveland Clinic, the project benefits the hospital by establishing itself as a leader in health care technology. The association with Google will also boost brand recognition for the Clinic. This is important in a highly competitive health care market where recognition and prestige have tangible effects on patients’ decisions and donors’ pocketbooks.

As I mentioned in my earlier article, there are reasonable privacy concerns with either Google or Microsoft having access to so much personal information. But, the general public has spoken with its money clicks: These are among the most popular web companies in the world. So who’s next in the line-up of PHR marriages … Revolution Health (created by AOL’s co-founder Steve Case) and Johns Hopkins?

The health care industry is one of the last bastions of industry to fully adopt electronic record keeping. Despite the forceful drive toward universal EMR (electronic medical records), the paper chart still maintains a key presence at most hospitals nationwide. The VA (Veterans Administration) Medical Centers is an exception to this stereotype.

In general, the slow evolution is somewhat understandable, considering the monumental investment (i.e., money, time, and training) required to transition to a completely paperless environment. Even worse, each hospital network possesses its own unique computer system, hindering electronic inter-hospital patient data transfers (only HIPAA-compliant transactions, of course).

From the consumer side, although the hurdles to electronic records are less prominent, people generally apply a more chaotic less systematic approach to record keeping: discharge paperwork in a Manila folder; medication list on a Post-It note; and “allergies” in two or three brain cells.

With the web industry giants competing to be the de facto warehouse of your personal data, it was only a matter of time until they would enter the arena of medical records. Last year, Microsoft and Google publicly announced their intentions to provide online services to store your personal health information. Microsoft released HealthVault in Q4 2007, while Google is expected to release its own version sometime this year.

In related news from this week, the Mayo Clinic announced a collaboration with the Microsoft Corporation to advance the HealthVault platform. The details of this strategic alliance is yet unclear, but I believe both Mayo and Microsoft will greatly benefit from the synergy these powerhouses have to offer in their respective fields. The Mayo Clinic is a world-renowned research hospital and Microsoft is indubitably one of the most powerful software companies in the world.

On the Google front, Google Blogoscoped captures a brief glimpse of the upcoming Google Health’s login page. The blog also provides preliminary
screenshots from last August 2007. Although Google does not have the first-to-market advantage, it has demonstrated its undeniable prowess in dominating the web industry. Its ubiquitous search engine (Google.com), e-mail service (GMail), and video site (YouTube) are few examples of its success.

It will be interesting to see where this heated competition leads us. The benefits of maintaining health information in one convenient location are numerous. With patients’ permission, doctors can easily retrieve pertinent medical histories to guide diagnosis, management, and preventive health maintenance. Easily forgotten will be the days of faxing consent forms and awaiting return faxes of hospital/clinic records. Inversely, patients can benefit from streamlined access to their own health information. This would obviate the need to contact a hospital to request paper copies–sometimes with a nominal fee–of their own medical records.

Despite some obvious benefits, there are also potential drawbacks, such as privacy concerns about an oligarchy storing all your personal data. In any case, the true impact of HealthVault and similar services may not be appreciated until after they become mainstream products utilized by both the patient and provider. Although a bit slow to the party, I am pleased by how health care is progressively embracing technology and how technology has embraced health care.

5min Life Videopedia may appear like another of the million YouTube clones on the Internet. It, however, distinguishes itself from its competitors by focusing on brief instructional videos. The site builds on two premises: 1) “everybody is an expert in something and has something to teach others”; and 2) “any solution can be visually explained in no more than 5 minutes.” As a result, we have a great online video resource where users can provide or find answers to practical questions in a few short minutes.

The site has a Health category, which features informative health-related videos geared for the general public. The category addresses a breadth of topics, ranging from cardiology and dermatology to nutrition and first-aid. Some video clips demonstrate adult CPR, teach massage techniques, and discuss diverse medical issues (e.g., testicular pain, Golfer’s elbow, seizures in children, dealing with colic). There is also a section dedicated to performing self-exams, such as the testicular and breast exams.

Having launched only a few months ago, 5min is relatively new, yet its video catalog is quite impressive. As of today, the user affiliated with DrMDK.com, a pediatrics website, is the largest overall contributor to 5min (329 uploads) and its Health category (209 uploads). Most of the videos simply consist of pediatricians briefly speaking about a topic before a camera, which makes the thought of creating such videos less daunting. Teaching physicians, who are accustomed to engaging in lengthy discourse in their fields of interest, should have no problem.