What are the opportunities for the use of new technology to improve health and healthcare? That was the focus of the 38th World Hospital Congress taking place this week in Oslo, Norway. The Congress was held under the auspices of the International Hospital...

Last week I was visiting Microsoft customers and partners in Stockholm, Sweden. Today’s blog post starts with a story that reminds me of the challenges and opportunities for healthcare systems around the world, and the potential for information technology...

A recent survey by Black Book Rankings confirms what most of us docs already know. Docs are wild about mobile solutions, apps, and yes, iPads. Thank you iPad for stimulating the market for tablet devices. Clinicians as a group are very smart people who...

Last week I attended a medical life sciences tech conference in San Diego. I stayed at the conference hotel.  The hotel was located, in fact connected to, the baseball stadium that is home to the San Diego Padres. That same side of the hotel was...

Today, I find myself in beautiful San Diego.  For a guy who loves everything having to do with ships and water (and really nice weather), San Diego is always a treat. I am here for the Wireless-Life Science 8th Annual Convergence Summit being held...

Everything we read suggests the day is nearing when all hospitals and doctors will use computers instead of paper to create, store, and share our medical records. It is something that is long overdue. But despite the progress being made to eliminate paper...

I read with interest this morning an article by Erin McCann, Associate Editor at Healthcare IT News . Ms. McCann shines a bright light on the sad fact that under today’s reimbursement system, better care doesn’t always yield better business results. That...

I don’t often turn over space on HealthBlog to other authors. An exception was during my sabbatical when Gareth Hall kindly filled in for me. Another exception is when one of my colleagues has something really cool or important to share. Then, I feel...

Even in some of the most digitally advanced hospitals and clinics I visit, I frequently hear clinicians grousing about access to patient care data and systems. It’s not unusual for todays’ healthcare settings to have multiple repositories of patient data...

As a 20-year practicing physician and a former hospital CIO/CMIO, I am well aware that healthcare is an extremely complex, highly regulated industry. I often tell young entrepreneurs that healthcare isn’t for the faint of heart. Getting traction in anything...

As a physician and one of the more visible members of our health industry team at Microsoft, I frequently find myself as the first point of contact for people who want to work with our company.  In some cases this is other clinicians or developers...

Catching up following my two-month sabbatical, I came across an article today that really intrigues me. The article, The Great EHR Switch , appears in an April edition of HealthcareITNews. Despite the billions of dollars being handed out to physicians...

This morning I came across a couple of articles that I believe could have profound implications for health and healthcare delivery. The first article, 88 Acres-How Microsoft Quietly Built the City of the Future , tells the story of how Microsoft manages...

For those of you who've been paying attention, I have been away from HealthBlog and my work at Microsoft for the past two months. Many thanks to my good friend and colleague, Gareth Hall, for adding some excellent content to this blog during my time away...

*****despite Bill’s picture appearing above, this is still me – Gareth :) ***** Hi all. One of the best bits of my job is getting to meet partners and customers that are doing really interesting things in health across the world. One of the partners I...

*****despite Bill’s picture appearing above, this is still me – Gareth :) ***** I received my new work machine yesterday – a Surface Pro , and like every good geek, I ripped open the box and immediately started setting it up. Every time I do this, I think...

**despite Bill’s picture appearing above, this is still me – Gareth :) ***** Being a proud Brit (and ex NHS employee), now living in Seattle, I always take an interest in my home country and the progress over there. A couple of interesting developments...

UPDATE: Sample code is now available at the links in the blog post below - download and start building ! Gareth Hi all About a year ago we created a Windows 8 demo app called Rounds that we used to show what modern applications in health could...

Well, my first HIMSS was truly a fabulous experience. The team did themselves proud and it was really interesting to talk to hundreds of customers and partners who want to do something new in health and can see ways in which we can help. I also learned...

Hi all It is a real honor to cover for Bill whilst he is off on his well-earned sabbatical . The timing couldn’t be better – I leave for HIMSS tomorrow, and I am really looking forward to it. Despite working in and around healthcare for...