I know that the Big G (Google) is great at harvesting, organising, and using data - and great at being controversial about it, too. But this next move might be a huge boon, or a shot in the foot for the search giant.

Google has unveiled plans to help U.S. patients gain control of their medical records and is working with doctors’ groups, pharmacies and labs to help them securely share sensitive health data - ’securely share’, now there’s a oxymoron and a half.

Apparently, Google has signed deals with medical tester Quest Diagnostics Inc, health insurer Aetna Inc, Walgreens and Walmart Stores Inc pharmacies. Google wants to nurture a partnership between medical institutions and information services. The service will allow U.S. patients to share information like their prescriptions, past drugs and test results.

More info after the jump>

Paper-to-digital services and systems development has been lethargic for years, with incompatible filing systems and illegible doctors’ scrawl. “We don’t know how to suck it out of the brains of doctors, but we know how to suck it out of the computer systems of doctors,” said Google founder Eric Schmidt after a press event on Thursday.

Either way, I’ve worked in UK healthcare, and it would be infinately easier - not to mention more efficient - to have a patient log in to their NHS records, and allow me to do the paperwork I need on the spot.

Where this will lead, I don’t know. Google will most likely develop a solution based on top of it’s existing systems, but may have to develop an entirely new system just for transparency to the medical world to keep its search technology safe.

Graham