Technobabbles I try to sound like I know what I'm talking about. Don't be fooled.

Google Releases Health Screenshots

Google posted "Google Health, a first look" on the Official Google Blog early this morning, and included screenshots of both the sign-in screen and the internal homepage associated with users' profiles, which displays some vital statistics. I'll only use the homepage shot here, since the login screen is pretty standard-Google.

Aside from appearing to have been taken on a Mac (judging from button styling and text rendering), the service appears (appropriately) pretty Googley to me. It looks very cool, and displays a sample of what happens when you link your profile with a health-care provider. Namely, the homepage displays what providers have been linked from the current profile.

So, what features can be seen from the screenshot? Obviously the lucky ducks in Cleveland who get to actually use the service know first-hand, but until the service is released (again, Google, please do so soon!) the rest of us have to be content with screenshots.

Within the list of sections on the left, Health appears to have tracking for the following things:

• Notices (presumably notes from physicians or reminders generated by Google Health itself)
• Drug interactions (useful for making sure you won't get any nasty side-effects from that new prescription)
• Profile (includes age, gender, height, weight, etc.; conditions [diabetes, hypertension, etc.]; medications; allergies; procedures ("Have I ever had an appendectomy?"); test results; and immunizations)

Besides the record-keeping stuff, it's also possible to add to your profile, import medical records, request an appointment at one of your associated institutions, and find a doctor.

Given this impressive array of stuff, I'm raring to try this service out the moment it's launched. I can't wait to import all the medical records of the last 17 years and see what happened to me in my childhood that I can't remember (due to that annoying children-don't-remember-stuff problem).

So, when does the rest of the world get to try this thing?

[Image credit: Official Google Blog, used as fair use for news reporting and commentary]

Google Health Trial in Cleveland

A few days ago, I got a slew of posts in Google Reader about a trial of Google Health scheduled to take place at the Cleveland Clinic. I finally decided to blog about it. I won't go into too much detail, since that's already been covered, but I will share my feelings about the service.

First, a little background. Google Health was started over a year ago, possibly under the name of M Scrapbook (Google Blogoscoped) as a service to store all health-related information in an online database accessible to health care providers across the country and around the world. Microsoft did something similar last year, when they started the HealthVault site.

Anyway, I've been waiting for this a long time (well, since October, which is when I found out about it, but still), and I'm very, very glad to see it surface as a bona fide service that is going into testing. The trial will serve at least 1,500 patients from the Cleveland, OH, clinic, and the number could go as high as 10,000.

Interestingly, the announcements on the various Google blogs came along with a note that http://www.google.com/health/ now goes to the login page revealed last month, rather than Google Co-op's Health topic.

So, I'm happy about this for one big reason: It will hopefully give me another Google toy to play with very soon. I'm also happy because my doctors will (also hopefully) put all my information into the system once it's launched and I give them permission, which would let me access my own medical records without going to the doctor's office.

I've probably talked about this before, but I would much rather Google store my information than Microsoft. It's also, indeed, integrated under the same account I currently use to access Gmail, Blogger, Google Reader, and all the other services I utilize on a daily (or almost-daily) basis. I don't particularly trust Microsoft, and the business with WGA and Windows Vista hasn't helped that negative opinion.

But to get off of Microsoft-bashing, here's to the success of Google Health! May it be speedily launched to the rest of the United States and the world at large.

Google Health Login Screen Surfaces

Google Blogoscoped has done it again. Another Google Health screenshot, this time of the login screen, which is currently active at the URL beneath the screenshot:

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=health

At least, it is for now. GB's shot shows the login box captioned with "Sign in to Google Health...", while my experience, about five hours later, shows "Sign in to New Service...".

And trying to sign in, or use the Google Account creation link under the login box, will just get you an "Invalid request." Trying any of the links, in fact, really doesn't do much. Both the tour and the
privacy policy are 404s. But the availability of a login page suggests that the service is getting close(r) to launch.

Right now, the page reads:

With Google Health, you can:

• Build online health profiles that belong to you
• Download medical records from doctors and pharmacies
• Get personalized health guidance and relevant news
• Find qualified doctors and connect to time-saving services
• Share selected information with family or caregivers

Take a quick tour

Sounds exciting! Remember I posted about this last year? I really hope it's coming soon; I need another Google product to play with!

[Image credit: Google Blogoscoped]