Loved this “spirited” thread on Digg about Google’s plans for storing and accessing health records. Granted, some of the Digg users are a wee bit paranoid, (my favorite comment being “Hitler and Stalin were minor league compared to Page and Brin,”) it is a worthwhile discussion. It’s completely understandable for people to have questions about privacy, and how their health records will be used in a database created by Google.

My question is, if not Google, then who?

(Incidentally, Microsoft is also in the running with HealthVault, and now they are offering 3M in funding for health care applications in the form of the Be Well Fund.)

Patients need to have access to their own health record. It irks me to no end that I don’t have access to mine, and if I wanted to access it I would have to jump through countless hoops and wait months to see it. An example: I tell my doctor that I am interested in my hematocrit results. I fill out some forms, requesting this information thinking I will get some actual results, only to to get a piece of paper in the mail 6 weeks later saying, “Your CBC was normal.” Um, thanks for note, but I’m still not sure what my hematocrit actually was.

And what about when you leave one practitioner to start seeing another? I was almost precluded from using a birthing center when I switched from an OB to my midwife. I was told that it would take 6-8 weeks for my records to be transferred (I was due in 4 weeks). These records were sitting in an office and all they had to do was hand them to me so I could walk two floors down and give them to my midwife!

It’s true that if Google ends up being the one to provide this technology, then they will have access to your health records, and the possibility exists that they will use this to somehow turn a profit. I’m not sure why “profit” has become such an objectionable word these days. But the reality is that profit motivates innovation.

Here’s an idea. Let Google do their thing, but hold them fully accountable to the rules and regulations of HIPPA. In fact, it looks like they are already working within this framework with the Clevelend Clinic pilot program, as reported by ZDNet:

This data transfer will not be handled by Google. Instead users will be directed to the Cleveland Clinic site, which acts as a Business Associate of Google in this case. The Clinic is a covered entity under HIPAA, and Google will not store its data, nor distribute it. The consumer will get their data from the Clinic, then control it through Google.

Otherwise, what is the alternative? Should we trust the government with this herculean task? Good luck getting it done in this century. Besides, then the Digg enthusiasts would ranting about how Big Brother is watching your cholesterol.