Microsoft beat Google to the punch yesterday by launching HealthVault, a web site to freely track public health records. They’ve already partnered with several large hospitals, health organizations and health care companies, including Pfizer, writes the New York Times article. At VentureBeat, David Hamilton complains not only about the time it takes to sign up for an account, but how confusing and ultimately difficult the site is to use — not to mention the looming questions of privacy, security, and ultimate utility. He’s also not convinced that allowing patients to handle their own medical data is a good thing; this will have “serious implications, especially since patients could misconstrue something,” writes Deepak Singh at bbgm.