Google Health beta service goes live

some third-party services. They include a "virtual pill box" that will remind people via text message to their cell phone when to take their medicine. Users can also research illnesses. A search for "chicken pox" for example, provides results from sources like Google Scholar and Google News.

Casey Kozlowski, Walgreens manager for health care automation, said Walgreens is allowing people to access their prescriptions history through Google Health. And if users allow it to, Walgreens will be able to view historical information such as allergic reactions people have had to drugs, she said.

"As a pharmacist, having an inaccurate or incomplete history of a person's prescriptions makes it really hard to do your job," she said.

Google announced a pilot of Google Health in February with the Cleveland Clinic, for between 1,500 and 10,000 participants. The original driving force for Google Health, Adam Bosworth, left the company last September. Mayer has been running the project until a permanent replacement is found.