Internet giant Google has announced it has embarked on a pilot project with the Cleveland Clinic which will involve Google storing the medical records of between 1,500 and 10,000 patients. Participation will be voluntary—patients must consent to having their records handled by Google’s new service. The Cleveland Clinic already operates its own electronic records system called MyChart; however, the Google service will make medical records available to patients using the same passwords they can use to access Google’s other services, like GMail. The records will include details about prescriptions, medical conditions, allergies, and the like, the patients can allow physicians and others to access at their discretion.
