Google Health adds telehealth services to the mix

By Molly Merrill
04:37 AM

Google Health is introducing telehealth services to its platform through a partnership with Boca Raton, Fla.-based MDLiveCare.

The partnership, which was announced Tuesday at the Health2.0 conference in San Francisco, will allow Google Health users with an MDLiveCare HIPAA access to secure video, phone or email telehealth consultations with a board-certified physician or mental health therapist, allowing them to share their medical records with a physician before the appointment and get records after the appointment.

"Patients remember less than 25 percent of what they're told when they consult with a doctor," said Bob Smoley, the CEO of MDLiveCare. "By directly synchronizing the information that's shared during telehealth consultations with electronic patient health records, we're able to provide patients with a convenient solution to review their physician or therapist encounters, time and time again, which significantly increases patient awareness and treatment compliance. This integration allows us to further empower patients with better access to all of their health information and to provide a service unprecedented in medicine today."

MDLiveCare executives say it is one of the first integrated services to offer a complete history of the doctor's clinical notes in a patient's Google Health Account, allowing for enhanced portability and continuity of care.

"We are excited about our collaboration with MDLiveCare," said Roni Zeiger, MD, a product manager at Google Health. "Our users have been telling us that they want more access to convenience services, like being able to securely email, schedule and consult a doctor online. MDLiveCare represents this type of online model. It allows our users the ability to access and use telehealth services with their medical data captured at the point of care."

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