Google Calendar: For Doctors. As Social Networking Move?
Clinical Cases just wrote a tutorial for doctors' offices on how to use Google Calendar to enable patients to check the doctors' avaiability.

From the comments on that post: "what would be the hipaa issues?"

Indeed - I imagine that could get nasty. Still, it's good to see folks generating ideas for using Google Calendar to improve the lives of others.

Also see Interesting Google Calendars from blogoscoped. That same post's comment thread has a nice wish list from Lenssen:

– an "add this calendar" button/ URL
– a widget to include small calendars in blogs
– a calendar module for the Personalized Homepage
– the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed which will list dates in chronological agenda order (what's next will be displayed first – right now they seem to sort the Atom feed in order of when the event was added)
– a "popular calendars" or "editor's picks" of calendars, not just the search functionality

I would add to this list:
- calendar API
- a stronger gmail tie-in (maybe I'm just not seeing the link?)
- a chat function in the calendar - so I can do quick confirmations with folks before I firm up dates
- ads on calendars? (what if an event can pay me for folks who add the event to their calendar after seeing that I'm going? Yes I'm THAT COOL.)

These kinds of questions tie us more tightly into how calendars, for Google, could be a key to encouraging social networks to form more cohesively and, possibly, lucratively for those networks.

Aaron Wall, in his commentary on MSN's social search concept, said "While I was writing this Philipp Lesson shared a Google search event calendar with me. To me the social bits of search are about sharing upcoming opportunities and things that are interesting more than sharing instant answers to questions."

Also - is Google Calendar more disruptive of apps like MeetUp and Upcoming (which has already added Google Calendar support...)?

See Google Calendar Review Roundup! for initial thoughts on the Google Calendar.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |