Microsoft HealthVault finally addresses lack of shared data

One of our parents is dying from cancer. Call it what it is. She's a wonderful woman, and on a recent voyage to the hospital we watched her pull out a long list of prescriptions she's been taking for two years. No current doctor seemed to know what all that stuff was. Sure, computers at CVS were checking something, but man -- all those pills?

Microsoft today launches HealthVault, a new portal for finally managing the complex health records for you and your family. We won't get all Michael Moore on you, but we do predict this could be huge. Eighty percent of Americans with computers search for health information online -- about 113 million people each year. There are 8 million searches for health info every day in the U.S. And we ain't getting any younger.

It's brilliant, when you think of it. Microsoft runs 90% of the software on computers across the globe. There is now no single network to control your info (though regional hospitals, Wal-Mart and some insurance cos try). Microsoft will tie this in to a search engine -- the platform where advertisers can bid in -- and new software that can do life-saving things like import data from heart-rate monitors. Word is the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Johnson & Johnson are jumping aboard.

Course, we got a ways to go. About 80-85% of physicians in private practices don't keep electronic information. Hospitals fall short. Privacy advocates will howl. It will be many years before you have a single card, or chip, or click with all the data you need to save your life and prevent you from overdosing. Until then, mom carries her notepad.