Google

More details are filtering to the surface after yesterday's "sort-of" launch of Google Health. The health.google domain may not be active yet but the consensus is that the prototype of the new service is alive and kicking on Google's new Co-Op service. The initial response appears to be positive but there are a few dissenters. LeeAnn Prescott of Hitwise wonders if Google is overextending itself, noting that many of the search giant's recent offering have yet to catch on with surfers. Its …

Google quietly launched a new service that combines the power of social networking sites like Wikipedia and Del.i.cious with its search technology to deliver better-focused health information. Google Co-op features a new health search that offers users Wiki-like features such as the ability to comment on the reliability of pages and contribute expertise on a topic.

The new approach to search allows users to filter medical information in ways that look likely to vastly improve the …

The tech press went into a minor feeding frenzy after a journalist discovered what appeared to be a demo of an early version of Google's new health service on one of the company's servers. The resulting screenshots give an idea of the direction the search engine giant may be heading with its new service, writes ZDNet's Garrett Rogers. The new service looks as though it will allow users to refine searches on specific symptoms and conditions, offering new options that allow surfers …

Rumors continue to circulate that Google plans to launch a new service called Google Health. The latest information is from Google Blogoscoped, a blog focused on the company which claims to have talked to several employees who confirmed the rumor. For those keeping score at home, the evidence thus far includes the following tidbits: A prominent engineer at Google has been seen running around town wearing a name tag reading "Google Health" (hint, hint). Techies hip to such things …

Google is weighing a new service that will allow Web surfers to search for specific healthcare information, according to The Wall Street Journal. Although no official announcement has yet been made, the company has assigned a senior engineer to work on the project. The newspaper looks at health-focused "vertical search" engines developed by a number of companies including WebMD, Healthline, Mamahealth and Kosmix.com. Bay area-based MedStory, which currently offers a service for …

The American Academy of Family Physicians has put out a very good primer on using electronic medical records (EMRs) to provide patient-centric care. There are a few tips to remember:

• Invest in a mobile monitor, be it a flat screen on a movable arm, a tablet PC or good old fashioned laptop.
• Use Google.
• Learn when to push the computer screen away and focus on the patient.
• Tell your patients what you are doing as you are doing it.
• Try to …

Details of a not yet public Google plan for a new service called GDrive leaked out on to the web and were picked up by the news media. The company is planning a remote hosting service that would allow users to store computer files and data. While the project targets the consumer market and thus far Google has made no formal moves into healthcare, the data storage market for small businesses that need to store lots of information (think physician practices) could also be impacted. Article (WSJ sub. req.)

The new head of Google's philanthropic wing said he is organizing an initiative that will use information technology to provide early warning in the event of a possible outbreak of pandemic influenza or other communicable disease. Dr. Larry Brilliant, who was named head Google.org last week, announced the International Networked System for Total Early Disease Protection at a meeting of the Technology, Entertainment and Design Conference in Monterey California. The initiative has early …

Despite the increasing number of specialized engines active in the healthcare market place, Google remains the dominant force, writes Jane Sarason Kahn in a commentary for the California Healthcare Foundation. The vast majority of people using the Internet for healthcare information rely on Google, not on alternatives, she notes. That is as true of medical professionals as it is of the general public. The best sign of Google's effectiveness as a search tool for reliable and up to date …

>  A series of articles in the Baltimore Sun this week questions how effectively the Maryland Board of Physicians is policing doctors in the state. Article

> San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced plans for a 75- to 100-bed medical center for the homeless. Supporters say the measure could take pressure off other hospitals in …