Contextual advertising will appear on medical records.

Microsoft's investment in the medical search engine Medstory , as well as Google's investment in the biotech company 23andMe, indicate that IT giants are seriously interested in medical topics. Experts from the British healthcare organization Wireless Healthcare know what's the matter. They warn of the danger that contextual advertising from Google and Microsoft will soon appear in the medical records of patients. This is especially dangerous given the ubiquity of “e-medicine” (remote medicine), that is, patient care via the Internet. But will lawmakers allow such advertising?

“We are now witnessing the emergence of a new e-medicine model that challenges the projections of healthcare companies and medical device manufacturers,” said Peter Krueger, analyst at Wireless Healthcare. “This new model will change not only the methods of diagnosing diseases, but also the methods of treatment and the methods of operation of remote medicine services.” At the same time, Kruger is skeptical about the chances of adopting such advertising methods by both patients and regulatory authorities.

“Advertising and healthcare are not well combined,” said Kruger. “I’m sure that regulators will not be happy to see banner ads in online medical records or on a patient’s diagnosis page.”

via Press Esc