On Monday, May 19, 2008, Google officially offered their new health service, Google Health, to the public. This service will allow users to input their health information into Google Health and link to their health records in participating pharmacies and health providers, such as Walgreens and Quest Diagnostic Labs. Once records are listed, patient health conditions will link to web pages about those conditions.

Concerns about patient privacy are being voiced by some organizations like the World Privacy Forum, since services like Google Health are not covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which sets strict standards for security of medical records.

For more information:
New York Times: Google Offers Personal Health Records on the Web
Yahoo! News: Google Makes Health Service Publicly Available
Washington Post: Google Health: a Quick Hands-On Look

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