Mediformatica - The Medical Informatics Portal

Practice Fusion is now providing a free ad-based online EMR. Practice Fusion's deal with Google is what makes a free medical records system possible. Google's AdSense program will generate ads that will be displayed as the records system is used.

“Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Practice Fusion addresses the complexities and critical needs of today's healthcare environments by proving a revolutionary application and delivery model for physicians and patients at no cost. Practice Fusion offers an integrated, on-demand healthcare platform delivered in a software-as-a-service model. Practice Fusion's services require no on-site software installation, eliminating the complexities of licensing, implementing and supporting traditional enterprise software solutions. Practice Fusion removes the need for integration, hardware and software for physicians, dramatically reducing cost and complexity, while enabling providers to deliver the highest level of care possible to their patients.”

When a doctor using the service calls up a patient's health record, AdSense will recognize certain keywords - such as "diabetes" - and ads related to that condition will appear on the page.

Advertising will be discreet - no pop-ups - and keywords are limited to a patient's condition, diagnosis or treatment. Practice Fusion says it complies with all federal privacy laws and will protect patient data.

Pharmaceutical companies interested in having their ads viewed by a captive physician audience are expected to be the primary advertising clients. But Practice Fusion says the model will also appeal to insurance companies and other health-related firms and services.

Doctors will have the option of paying a $250 monthly fee to use the system without advertisements.

It reminds me of Gmail, which uses the sensitive, personal data inside the user’s emails in order generate the Ads related to the contents of each email. In case of Gmail, the user decides for his own if it will be appropriate to risk his data by using this intelligent Ad based system, but when it comes to the EMR, the physician is the one taking the decision for his patients….