ICare

Google Health Launches Non-Profit Patient Assistance Web Site

November 03, 2008

by Becky Jacoby, Reporter

Information on thousands of patient assistance programs can be found online at PatientAssistant.com, Inc. (PatientAssistant), a new nonprofit organization and integrated service launched by Google Health.

A patient assistance program is a service offered by pharmaceutical companies to help low-income, underinsured or uninsured individuals or families procure medications for free or low cost. Based on medications listed in the patient's Google Health profile, the application facilitates a search for eligible patient assistant drug programs. PatientAssistant helps users to identify affordable pricing, thus saving money on the prescription drugs that they need.

"The more medications a patient is required to take, the longer and more difficult it can become for them to find patience assistance programs that meet all of their needs," stated Rex Bowden, President, PatienceAssistance.com, Inc. "Our new integrated service on the Google Health platform is designed to make that process much easier by allowing users to search for programs on multiple medications at once, while using existing information to save time in searching for eligible programs that meet all, or most, of the patient's needs," he said.

How does Google Health work? Users create a Google account, register their medical records and health information then log in to www.google.com/health and "Explore Online Health Services." A walk-through of the program's features is available prior to sign-up.

PatientAssistant also shows users the costs of their prescriptions within their geographic area. It also offers related tools such as the ability to send reminders to patients to submit enrollment forms.