On May 19, 2008, Google launched a beta version of its new medical records database service, called Google Health. The service is intended to be means of providing password-protected, digitized, medical records that could easily be shared between doctor's offices and family members.

The service will also allow patients to share portions of their records with a variety of partner companies as necessary. Companies that have already been integrated with the service include Longs Drug Stores Corp., Quest Diagnostics Inc., CVS Caremark Group and Medco, an online drug distributer.

Plans for the service were first officially announced in 2007 by Google's Vice President of Search Products & User Experience, Marissa Mayer.

The service was previously tested with 10,000 patients at the Cleveland Clinic.

In March of 2009, Google Health announced a new feature that will allow users to share their health record online with friends, family members and specific doctors. The new feature is in response to user's desire for the proper people to know their most recent health status in case of an emergency. Google is also providing more extensive security measures in order to protect user's privacy.CNET: Google Health lets users share their online records (March 4, 2009)