A few months ago, I blogged about the impending launch of Google Health and their Personal Health Records (PHR). Well, as of yesterday (5/19), they not only launched their PHR system, but also a whole bunch of other Google Health offerings during their so called “Factory Tour of Search” (link to streaming video), which you can get a really comprehensive rundown of what was announced/shared over at TechCrunch or check out the “live blog” archive at WebWare.

What is most interesting about the announcements at the “Factory Tour”, is that in addition to the initially announced Google Health partner, Cleveland Clinic, there are also a bunch of other healthcare partners that have signed up to be part of the Google Health train, including big players like Walgreens, CVS, Beth Israel, and the American Heart Association. Here’s a full list of the partners at launch:

Walgreens, Quest Diagnostics, Cleveland Clinic, RX America, CVS, Longs Drugs, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, American Heart Association, AllScripts, SafeMed, Medem, HealthGrades, eRx, Live Strong, MyCareTeam, My Daily Apple, Lifestar, Your Health, Solventus, HX Technologies, MyMedicalSummary, MyMedicalRecords, NoMoreClipboard.com, and MediConnect Global.

While I would love to go into more detail describing what Google Health has to offer, I unfortunately have not had the time to really play around with the system and gather more details. So, I would highly recommend that you check out a really good “first look” review of Google Health by Eric Schonfeld over at TechCrunch, which comes with plenty of screen shots and descriptions.

OK, I’m finally back on the blog/block after a crazy few months, especially April, when I was away on biz trips more than at home. As a result, over the last 4-6 weeks or so, there has been so much going on that I’ve barely been able to keep up, let alone blog or podcast about it.

As I play catch up with what’s been going on, I’m going to highlight some of the more interesting news below and then take the next few days/weeks to go back and forth between current news and past news in more detail.

So, here are a few interesting topics that occurred in the last few weeks (more updates to come)…

• Digital Health Revolution (from HealthcareVox):
  An excellent new video podcast initiative launched by ScribeMedia.org with lots of interesting and enlightening content in streaming video (available at the DHR site or on Podango) and podcast formats. Here’s a brief synopsis: “…A major emphasis of DHR is on how social media (e.g, blogs, podcasts and social networks) has handed unprecedented power to the masses. In-depth and intimate interviews with the people who are researching, using and creating the digital technologies that are reshaping health today are conducted by Fard Johnmar, founder of healthcare marketing communications consultancy Envision Solutions, LLC“. I highly recommend watching some of these interviews for real insight and empowering knowledge from some of the leaders of the Med 2.0 movement.

• The Wisdom of Patients: Health Care Meets Online Social Media (from California Healthcare Foundation):
  Thanks to Fard Johnmar at HealthcareVox for pointing out this great article on how “…social media on the Internet are empowering, engaging, and educating health care consumers and providers. While consumers use social media — including social networks, personal blogging, wikis, video-sharing, and other formats — for emotional support, they also heavily rely on them to manage health conditions“. Download the 28-page PDF from the website.

• KnoweldgeMesh: Researchers to Share Ideas in Virtual Research Park (from PharmExec.com)
  Not exactly sure if this is going to be anything like Second Nature, but it sounds like an interesting concept with similar goals and ideals. PharmaExec writes: ”The Hershey Center for Applied Research (HCAR) on Wednesday launched KnowledgeMesh, an online meeting ground for the life sciences community, including scientists, researchers, venture capitalists, and educators… HCAR was looking for a way to hook up its resident researchers with outside partners. Using social-networking tools, the organization established KnowledgeMesh—a scientific mapping online community. Members will come from pharma and other industries, academia, advocacy groups, and technical trades… When you enter the site, you access a dashboard that lists communities aligned with nearby Penn State research strings. As on LinkedIn and Facebook, each KnowledgeMesh user has their own profile. Community members can join blogs, forums and wikis.“. Hmmm…Perhaps it’s not so much a “virtual community” in the Second Nature virtual world sense, but more of a social network — maybe more like Nature Network. Guess I’ll need to join to find out. Either way, it sounds intriguing, though I am sure the world is running out of space for yet another social networking application/platform… Maybe they should have just used Ning.

• Pharma Bands Together to Share Information (from PharmExec.com):
  Wow! At last, the pharma industry gets a common open source platform developed by Clinical Research Information eXchange (CRIX), with the aim of having pharma companies develop open source applications for use in clinical trials. “Rather than keep everything behind closed doors, CRIX members—including Pfizer, Novartis, and Amgen—are pooling data in an effort drop costs and save time“.

• Microsoft Launches New Tool Kit; Chats About Vista (from PharmExecBlog):
  “The big news…is the release of Microsoft’s Office for Business Applications (OBA) for the life sciences industry. This set of tools allows software developers to build applications that seamlessly connect back-end enterprise systems with MS Office program.” And with regards to the adoption of Vista in the Pharma industry, PharmExecBlog writes [Paul Mattes, Microsoft’s Managing Director of Health and Life Sciences said:] “…We are seeing more and more customers right now that see Vista as an enabler right now. Vista is seeing a higher adoption rate than XP when it first launched. However. adoption started in areas that aren’t subject to regulatory restraints.” Translation: Not pharma. Ha ha…So true it hurts! Then again, based on all the negative feedback that I’ve heard about Vista, why would anyone in any industry want to adopt it right away anyway?