Microsoft joins with the American Medical Association to allow physician access to patients' online Microsoft HealthVault records, which contain self-reported medical history. Microsoft has previously entered into HealthVault partnerships with medical institutions such as the Mayo Clinic.
Microsoft
is collaborating with the American Medical Association, allowing physicians to
access patient records stored on Microsoft's HealthVault application via a
Web-based portal. That portal, currently being beta tested, will be launched in
early 2010.
The AMA is developing the portal with Covisint, a subsidiary of
Compuware.
HealthVault contains self-reported patient health information, which physicians
will be able to access from the point of care through the portal. The portal
will allow for personalized content, search capabilities and networking
opportunities.
"The use of electronic medical records, and health information
technology overall, holds great promise for improving patient care and
increasing practice efficiency," Dr. James Rohack, president-elect of the
AMA, said in a statement. "Having ready access to patient information can
help physicians make treatment decisions and reduce the time spent gathering
this information, resulting in more face-to-face time with patients."
This is not Microsoft's first partnership involving HealthVault.
In April,
Microsoft
joined with the Mayo Clinic to launch Mayo Clinic Health Manager, which
utilizes Microsoft's HealthVault technology to store patients' medical
information and send them individualized health guidance and recommendations
based on the Mayo Clinic's clinical expertise.
The Mayo Clinic Health Manager also gives patients the option of uploading
updated data from home health devices and receiving reminders about their
medical care. Features scheduled to roll out throughout 2009 include management
tools for Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Microsoft rolled out HealthVault in October 2007, with the intention of
giving consumers an encrypted repository for their medical information from
which they could send information to physicians and caregivers.
In April 2008, Grad Conn,
health care and life sciences senior director for Microsoft's global consumer
strategy, referred to HealthVault as "PayPal for health information."
Perhaps recognizing the potential market for online health care applications,
Google unveiled Google Health in February 2008. Originally designed for users
looking to store their personal health information online, Google Health was upgraded
in March 2009 to allow that information to be sent to doctors and trusted
contacts.
Soon after that,
Google
announced that it would participate in a pilot program launched by the CMS
(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) to allow Medicare
beneficiaries to input their Medicare claims into Google Health.
Google Health attracted controversy from some pundits and protestors,
however, who felt that the application needed safeguards in place to prevent
wrong medical data from being passively entered in the system.
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