Google introduces health site

Mountain View, CA-Google has launched a beta version of Google Health as a site at which consumers can store and manage their personal health information at no charge.

The site is designed to permit patients to create online health profiles, import medical records from hospitals and pharmacies, learn about health issues, search for doctors and hospitals, and connect to online health services from www.google.com/health. The Cleveland Clinic is a partner in the venture.

“Google Health aims to solve an urgent need that dovetails with our overall mission of organizing patient information and making it accessible and useful,” wrote Marissa Mayer, Google vice president, search and user products, on the company’s blog. “Through our health offering, our users will be empowered to collect, store, and manage their own medical records.”

The company maintains that the site is secure, but some privacy advocates have noted that with third-party services such as Google Health, consumers are not protected under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.