Google Health Is In The News
Nearly a year ago, Google hired Dr. David Feinberg from Geisinger Health to lead a new division called Google Health. The purpose of Google Health is starting to be made known. Feinberg recently spoke publicly in Las Vegas saying they intend to improve the quality of health-related search results.
Feinberg said, “Imagine a search bar on top of your EHR (electronic health record) that needs no training.” Doctors could start typing into the search bar, just as they do when the search for answers on Google, and the system would start automatically filling out responses and offering up information.
Feinberg noted that his fellow doctors had become “data clerks,” given all the time they spent filling out forms in the electronic medical records. He also said doctors go to YouTube to get information and guidance. His division wants to make searching of the EMR more effective. He did not say Google would compete with some of the existing electronic health record companies, like Epic and Cerner, but he did suggest that Google could help with some of the grunt work related to data.
Google Health is a logical extension for Google because for some time they have been improving the quality of their search-results. It seems a market is waiting for Google given that millions of people use the tool to find medical information.
Extract has a role to play. The EMR and the searches that Google is contemplating, rely on the data contained in the EMR. Extract has assisted healthcare organizations all over the country by making it easier to move data (paper/scans/faxes) from incoming documents into the EMR. Data streams like discrete laboratory test results are terribly manual and error prone workflows that Extract has mastered. Extract’s HealthyData™ also improves the turnaround time from when documents are received to when the data is made available in the EMR.
With more data in the EMR (thanks to Extract), clinical staff is made more effective as would the Google searches that Dr. Feinberg contemplates.
To learn more about how Extract can accelerate your data workflows, please reach out today.
