Yesterday, in conjunction with the official start of the 2007 HIMSS Conference, we made a couple of announcements that outline our ongoing efforts to deliver guidance and tools to help deploy more efficient eHealth solutions.

Readers of this blog have seen the release of the Connected Health Framework - Architecture and Design Blueprint back at the end of 2006.

Yesterday, after a round of (very good) feedback, we more broadly announced its availability and we are taking in to the next level with the following two resources:

• MSDN Health Industry Center: this area of the MSDN Architecture site will be dedicated to collecting the technical material related to the broad healthcare industry, targeting CIO, CTO, Software and Enterprise Architects, Developers of healthcare provider organizations, state and local government, federal Health and Human Services agencies and national healthcare initiatives.
• Health Connection Engine (HCE): The Health Connection Engine is a reference implementation based on the Connected Health Framework architecture. HCE allows for faster and incremental development and deployment of connected eHealth solutions. HCE is released as an open source project on CodePlex.

For additional coverage on yesterday's announcements, please check the following:

• Feature story Q&A with Peter Neupert, Steve Aylward
• Press release: Microsoft Demonstrates Further Commitment to Healthcare Market with Acquisition of Web Search Company
• Press release: Improving Delivery of Health Solutions Worldwide: Microsoft Releases Connected Health Framework Architecture and Design Blueprint
• Press release: Menninger Clinic Saves IT Costs, Reduces Paperwork Up to 25 Percent by Deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
• Transcript: Steve Ballmer Keynote Remarks at HIMMS Conference 2007