Google Health

[mrjohnchimpo]

My company (the company I work for) partnered with Google to create Google Health.

http://www.google.com/health

CVS Caremark Partners with Google on the Launch of Google Health

Collaboration Provides Consumers with Secure Access to their Health Information and the Ability to Manage their Information Online

WOONSOCKET, R.I., May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) today announced a partnership with Google Health, a new product launched today by Google, which allows users to securely store, organize and manage their medical records and health care information online. This partnership will facilitate and enhance communications between consumers and health care providers by providing individuals with secure access to their medication history and personal health care information.

"In today's health care environment, information related to an individual's overall health is often fragmented, creating gaps in the availability of data and missed opportunities to coordinate care," said Helena Foulkes, Senior Vice President, Health Services at CVS Caremark. "At CVS Caremark, given our presence across the health care continuum as a retail pharmacy, pharmacy benefits manager and retail clinic provider, we can help bring together key health information of importance to our consumers and provide them with a holistic view of their health status."

By integrating on the Google Health platform, patients who receive treatment at MinuteClinic, the retail-based health clinic subsidiary of CVS Caremark, will be able to securely import their visit summaries into their Google Health Accounts. As of today, this function will be immediately available to MinuteClinic patients in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tennessee and will roll out nationally to the more than 500 MinuteClinic locations in 25 states during the course of the next several weeks. In addition, within the next several months, consumers who fill their prescriptions at a CVS/pharmacy or have prescription coverage from CVS Caremark will also be able to securely import their prescription and medication histories into Google Health

"We believe that Personal Health Records, or PHRs, show great promise as a tool to enable patients to engage in their own health care and we are committed to working with industry leaders to further develop and advance the utility of PHRs," said Jon Roberts, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at CVS Caremark. "Given our commitment to facilitating greater consumer engagement in health care and our mission to make innovative and high-quality health and pharmacy services safe, affordable and easy to access, we are excited to partner with Google at the launch of Google Health."

About CVS Caremark

CVS Caremark is the largest provider of prescriptions and related health care services in the nation. The Company fills or manages more than one billion prescriptions annually. Through its unmatched breadth of service offerings, CVS Caremark is transforming the delivery of health care services in the U.S. The Company is uniquely positioned to effectively manage costs and improve health care outcomes through its 6,300 CVS/pharmacy stores; its pharmacy benefit management, mail order and specialty pharmacy division, Caremark Pharmacy Services; its retail-based health clinic subsidiary, MinuteClinic; and its online pharmacy, CVS.com.

[hotfoot]

you work for cvs? i just went on a rant the other day about how much i hate that place.

[mrjohnchimpo]

you work for cvs? i just went on a rant the other day about how much i hate that place.

well, I work for the Caremark division of CVS Caremark. And it figures that you'd hate it, since they have more than one store and make money.

[larryhead]

oohh buurrrnnnn.. :upsidedown:

looks neat btw.. i probably won't use it since i get all the same through my work provider (https://www.myuhc.com/).

[slam]

i am more than a little concerned by this initiative. i don't like the concept of linking my email and search history to my medical records. especially when we live in a big-brother state that can apparently snoop on any of that data for any reason at any time and not tell a damned soul. how long before a medical insurance fraud court case ends up with google health info being subpoenaed?

i've always just assumed that someone, somewhere, could be watching everything i do online. i don't want my health record to be part of that...

[mrjohnchimpo]

i've always just assumed that someone, somewhere, could be watching everything i do online. i don't want my health record to be part of that...

[police state voice] well, Citizen, if you're not doing anything wrong, then there is nothing to worry about. move along![end police state voice]

[mrjohnchimpo]

but seriously...I really do think this is a fantastic idea. If there is an emergency, God forbid out of this country, but even IN...my doctors having my medical info (ALLERGIES, current problems, past surgery history) at a simple click of a mouse is a benefit that far outweighs this stupid (and tired) liberal conspiracy theory crap.

[False Alarm]

but seriously...I really do think this is a fantastic idea. If there is an emergency, God forbid out of this country, but even IN...my doctors having my medical info (ALLERGIES, current problems, past surgery history) at a simple click of a mouse is a benefit that far outweighs this stupid (and tired) liberal conspiracy theory crap.
dude, big brother conspiracy theories are traditionally associated with conservatives who were afraid dems would bloat the government and try to have it oversee their lives. liberal big-bro consiracy theorists are mostly a new breed born of the bush administration. so if liberals now are stupid and tired for worrying about big bro, how much stupider and more tired are your precious conservatives who pushed that "crap" for the previous 50 years or so?

[slam]

far outweighs this stupid (and tired) liberal conspiracy theory crap.

this ain't no conspiracy. i'm not claiming that google is intentionally creating this website with the sole purpose of robbing me of my health records.

i'm merely stating the very unarguable fact that google is a company within the united states, subject to NSA wiretaps (like AT&T) or court subpoena. wasn't there a guy in india recently that the indian government forced his identity out of google for posting derogatory things on his blog? they made that guy eat out of the same bowl he shit in. google is at the mercy of the government no matter where they operate.

[JVO]

dude, big brother conspiracy theories are traditionally associated with conservatives

What???

Are you kidding???

Certainly there are conservative conspiracy theories, but the three main conspiracy theories that I think of are "Man did not land on the moon", "The Government killed JFK", and "9/11 was done by the Government". Not to mention the conspiracy theory among African American's that White people created the HIV virus in order to kill black people or that Crack was an invention of the Reagan Administration to kill and imprison as many black people as possible. All of these come from people who are typically very liberal. I suppose you could argue that the Unabomber and the OK City bombing were both conservative Conspiracy theories, but I would say that there are at least as many Liberal ct's as conservative.

After saying that I agree that I would be very sensitive about having my medical records on google. I won't even pay my bills on line because I am such a fraidy-cat. Of course I am technilogically in the stone age. I have only just recently figured out how to record one thing on my VCR while watching another on the TV and I still don't own a computer and only recently got a cell phone. So what the hell do I know?

[False Alarm]

What???

Are you kidding???

Certainly there are conservative conspiracy theories, but the three main conspiracy theories that I think of are "Man did not land on the moon", "The Government killed JFK", and "9/11 was done by the Government". Not to mention the conspiracy theory among African American's that White people created the HIV virus in order to kill black people or that Crack was an invention of the Reagan Administration to kill and imprison as many black people as possible. All of these come from people who are typically very liberal. I suppose you could argue that the Unabomber and the OK City bombing were both conservative Conspiracy theories, but I would say that there are at least as many Liberal ct's as conservative.

sorry, conspiracy theory might be too strong a term. all the crackpot stuff you talk about may attract liberals. but general big brother paranoia, big brother preoccupation, giving a shit about big brother--from the 50s thru the end of the century i'd say everyday worries like these (not specific sensational scenarios) were the province of conservatives. this comes mostly from personal experience with conservatives of my parents' generation, i guess, but i'm confident that wider data, if it's available, would support the claim. all of which is to say, was slam acting like a coked-out conspiracy theorist in his post, justifying chimpo's introduction of the term conspiracy theory (along with his partisan-hack strafing)? Nah.

[matty]

i don't like the concept of linking my email and search history to my medical records. especially when we live in a big-brother state that can apparently snoop on any of that data for any reason at any time and not tell a damned soul.

The govt already knows about your excessive viagra use, slam. You can't buy viagra and penis enlargement medication in that quantity and not have somebody take notice.

I don't like the idea of the govt snooping around in my medical records, but I'm having trouble finding the problem. Other than a privacy issue, I mean. So what if they see that I get colds frequently, get a round-robin std test every six months, and have been hospitalized twice for drinking too much of my own blood? I'm having trouble imagining the damage this could do because A) I'm hung over, for serious, and B) I just assume that if they really wanted to know, they would just come up with some bullshit to find that info anyway so why resist The Machine, and C) I agree with Chimpo (LORD HELP ME!) that if you're not doing anything wrong, you have no reason to be a-feared. Then again, I was raised by a cop/Marine Drill Sgt, so I'm all law-abidin'.

When the Gayvolution comes, we'll use your medical records to determine whether you go on the breeding farms or are "recycled."

[Soul Queen]

Privacy is the main issue that I have with it.
The biggest concern for me is the insurance companys having complete access to everything about you.
They are assholes and will use any information against you.
We shouldn't make things easier for them.

The general idea is good. Its unfortunate that sometimes new technology are used against us.

[JVO]

We all totally shat on Chimpo's job!

Sorry Chimpo, if your company is helping people/doctors with making their Healthcare better, then don't let any of us nay sayers slow you down. At least your company makes an actual impact on the lives of real people and could actually help to save lives. That is far more than what most people can say.

[mrjohnchimpo]

We all totally shat on Chimpo's job!

Sorry Chimpo, if your company is helping people/doctors with making their Healthcare better, then don't let any of us nay sayers slow you down. At least your company makes an actual impact on the lives of real people and could actually help to save lives. That is far more than what most people can say.

No worries. I let most things go in one ear and out the other (even if I incoherently rant in a reply). This board doesn't even come close to representing this country...which is who we're actually trying to help. I'm excited about this Google Health thing. :thumbsup:

[False Alarm]

This board doesn't even come close to representing this country...which is who we're actually trying to help.
are you saying CVS and google wrote a special provision into the agreement that disqualifies members of B2P from using the service? figures. fascists!

[mrjohnchimpo]

are you saying CVS and google wrote a special provision into the agreement that disqualifies members of B2P from using the service? figures. fascists!

correct. we dislike anyone that even leans slightly to the left. medicine was created by conservatism.

[slam]

medicine was created by conservatism.

sneaky bastards! i always though there was a correspondence between the rise of the right wing and the small pox vaccine...

chimpo, sorry to crap on this announcement, i just have my own personal gripes with google, and i don't trust them nearly as much as they'd like me to.

how's the rollout going? any major snafus? getting some good usage? how much did you personally have to do with this project? were you under an NDA?

[mrjohnchimpo]

how's the rollout going? any major snafus? getting some good usage? how much did you personally have to do with this project? were you under an NDA?

no major problems so far. I actually wasn't involved personally in the project but know a couple that are. This is actually part of a much bigger initiative and I'm working on other parts. I'm not officially under an NDA but they don't like us talking about it. After the next couple months I probably can though.