Google enters EPR pilot project
Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit, multispecialty, academic medical centre, is working with Google on a pilot project to test the secure exchange of electronic patient records (EPR - or, known in the US as the electronic personal health record - PHR).
Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Search Products and User Experience, Google said: ‘We chose Cleveland Clinic as one of the first partners to pilot our new health offering because, as a provider, they already empower their patients by giving them online tools that help them manage their medical records online and co-ordinate care with their doctors.’
The clinic has over 100,000 patients entered in its PHR system – the eCleveland Clinic MyChart. The pilot, an invitation-only opportunity offered to a group of Cleveland Clinic PHR users, plans to enrol between 1,500 and 10,000 patients. The clinic reports that the pilot project will test the secure exchange of the PHR data, e.g. prescriptions, conditions and allergies, etc. between their Cleveland Clinic PHR to a secure Google profile in a live clinical delivery setting.
Patients participating in the pilot project authorise the secure importation into a Google account, via Google’s AuthSub interface. To store and access the data, Google will use its GData protocol (already offered in many of the company’s products) and supporting standards-based medical information formats, e.g. the Continuity of Care Record (CCR).
By integrating with the Google platform, Cleveland Clinic says that, at no cost to the user or provider, this will help to provide ‘national access, consumer empowerment and 24/7 access/portability’.
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