Google Unveils Online Health Record Pilot Program - A Look at the Bones (Page 3 of 4 )
Right now Google's program, dubbed Google Health, is in the closest thing to a private beta stage. That hasn't stopped anyone outside the beta from being curious. What does it look like to have everything at your fingertips? As Marissa Mayer, VP of Search & User Products at Google explains in the Google blog, "We aren't doctors or healthcare experts, but one thing Google can create is a clean, easy-to-use user experience that makes managing your health information straightforward and easy." You can see a full-size image of the welcome screen, or if you'd rather not click away, here's a screen shot:
This screen lists some of the things you can do with the service. They include:
- Building online health profiles
- Downloading medical records from doctors and pharmacies
- Learning about health issues and finding helpful resources
- Searching for doctors and hospitals
- Connecting to online tools and services
The blog also featured another screen shot from deeper within the application. Again, you can view the full-sized version of the Google Health interface, or you can check out a screen shot here:
I'm sorry I had to crop and reduce the image to fit, because it doesn't do justice to the clarity of the interface. In the left column users will find links to take them to drug interactions (with the red circle around a white exclamation point), conditions, medications, allergies, procedures, test results, immunizations, and more. There are also links to screens that let you add to the profile, import medical records, and use online health tools. You can even find a doctor.
In the large middle area users will find several prominent links that let them take several important actions related to their profile; these duplicate some of the smaller links on the left. Redundancy is a good thing in interfaces. You can also request an appointment through one of the links in the center. Finally, the column on the right shows a short profile summary, listing all of a specific patient's conditions, medications, allergies, and procedures. At its full size, it is extremely clean, easy to read and easy to understand.
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