Anyone who works in healthcare knows the importance the electronic medical record.  As we get comfortably settled into the penultimate year of the first decade of the 21st century, there is virtually no disagreement among healthcare organizations on the vital function of a sound method for the transmission, storage, and retrieval of the secure electronic medical record.

Internet search giant Google knows this as well.  For the past year and a half, the company has been developing a standard for the Web-based personal health record.  Portability seems to be the key, and the prestigious Cleveland Clinic has wholly endorsed the company’s intentions.

In the evolution of the electronic health record, this represents a major step.  The flow of information across the Internet is all about (secure) interaction of a personalized nature — the democratization of that data.  Nothing benefits the patient-as-consumer ethic more than giving the consumer the power to take control over this aspect of his or her healthcare.  As healthcare organizations continue to realize that protecting the personalized information of their greatest resources, the patients, is a priority; the delivery of healthcare becomes safer, more efficient, and cheaper.  Once again, Google is at the forefront of this critical piece of 21st century medicine. | LINK