Google Health has managed to secure its first deal with a health care insurer. The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts will allow its members to import personal claims data to their Google Health profiles. The insurer has about three million members.

Steven Fox, the insurer's vice president of provider network management, said in the company's statement that having health information in a single place brings several benefits to both the insurer and the insured, as well as to providers of healthcare. For example, a patient can allow his doctor to check his medical file on Google Health to overview medical conditions, medications and past treatment.

Users need to first create their own Personal Health Record (PHR). The PHR is a secure online vault which stores medical records. The service also provides advanced features such as automatic checks for drug interaction and adverse reactions. Google Health has already signed up health care providers such as Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and pharmacies including CVS and Walgreens.

The deal between the search engine leader and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts involves no money exchange. Google wants the users, and Blue Cross wants the service.

The announcement comes shortly after Kaiser Permanente announced they are integrating their own My Health Manager patient information system with Microsoft's HealthVault health platform.