Google's announcement about Chrome OS last week caused some technology pundits to hyperventilate about impending doom for Microsoft and put another notch in Google's product launch belt. The announcement was widely speculated as a pre-emptive move to steal some thunder from Microsoft who is apparently getting ready to announce it's version of Office that can synch with the cloud. While speculation runs rampant about the two giants as they battle it out for dominance in the OS and office productivity suite space, Google's latest announcement provides an interesting new twist to Google's Health platform. Because what Chrome OS will clearly provide once the operating system is released next year is a faster on-ramp for consumer-controlled, web-based patient health records (PHR).

Google and Microsoft have been in a less hyped war for over a year in the consumer-controlled web-based health records space. In Google's corner is Google Health and Microsoft's answer is Microsoft HealthVault. Both companies are in a mad scramble for insurance and healthcare provider partnerships, who currently have the lion's share of digital patient records. In the past year, Google has signed up the Cleveland Clinic, Beth Israel Deaconess, Walgreens, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Microsoft has signed agreements with the Mayo Clinic, NewYork-Presbyterian, Kaiser Permanente and CVS. Partnerships are key because while these sites allow patients to update their own records, the ability to import data automatically is more convenient for patients and provides more accurate, complete data. Unlike proprietary system records, the personal records can be shared (the patient needs to provide his/her consent to share the record) with a provider if they are traveling or if they move.

Google's announcement of Google Wave in May introduced some intriguing possibilities for patient communications (as well as enhancing the functionality of digital records themselves). Chrome OS makes it clear that Google is betting on a revolution on the desktop and it believes the future is in cloud computing. Once a user turns on the computer, Chrome Os will jumpstart them onto the internet.

For a physician in a small practice, an inexpensive netbook (where Chrome OS will initially be found) can quickly bring up a patient's health record (preferably on Google Health). Chrome OS on a netbook is important because cost is cited often as a barrier to adoption of EHR. Another big selling point of Chrome OS is that Google is promising greater security architecture. Americans are certainly worried about the security and privacy of their PHR so any truth to this claim will help with its adoption in the space.

While Google's health architecture is certainly shaping up, it does suffer from several significant holes which prevents it from being the 800-pound gorilla in Health IT. It's patient-centric model means it won't be providing a meaningful offering for providers. For instance, many proprietary EHR systems have e-prescribing modules and warn providers about potential drug interactions during the prescribing process.

Another potential drawback is a lingering question about Google Health's revenue model. Introducing advertising on Google Health will draw criticism quickly. Both Google Health and HealthVault are still labeled as beta products, which presumably provides both companies some cover regarding missteps but is also a drawback given the sensitivity of the data contained in these records. With both software behemoths making significant bets on cloud computing, it leaves little doubt where the battle will be waged.