Microsoft Health and Life Sciences Evangelism Team

Gentle Robots? A peek into Microsoft Health Now and the Vision

I’m a Microsoft HealthVault Fan on Facebook and I just found out that the session recordings from the Microsoft Connected Health Conference earlier this month are available. Check out the website for abstracts and presentation/video links. I’ve shown my bias :) by highlighting the items I’m currently reviewing  - I’ll get to all eventually.

• HealthVault 101: Business Overview
• HealthVault 101: Technical Overview
• Improving Populations Health & Wellness with HealthVault Enabled Solutions and Devices (Business Track)
• Showcasing Microsoft Solutions in Federal & State Wide Initiatives (Business Track)
• How to Build a World Class HealthVault Application (Technical Track)
• Connecting Devices to HealthVault (Technical Track)
• Learn How Continua Devices Can Work with HealthVault (Technical Track)
• Saving Lives, Saving Money Through Connected Medication Management (Business Track)
• Creating Stronger Data Connections among Hospitals, Referring Clinics, & Patients (Business Track)
• Connecting HealthVault & Clinical Systems, a Best Practice (Technical Track)
• Connecting Rich Client Applications to HealthVault (Technical Track)
• Leveraging Connectivity Solutions for Physicians & Patients (Business Track)
• Introduction to Microsoft Amalga UIS 2009 (Business Track)
• Extending HealthVault With Other Microsoft Technologies (Technical Track)
• Using CCR & CCD with HealthVault (Technical Track)
• Using Digital Signatures & APIs in HealthVault (Technical Track)
• Connecting Patients and Hospitals Remote Monitoring (Business Track)
• Connecting Communities: Stimulus Package & Beyond (Business Track)
• Transforming Privacy & Security into Opportunities (Technical Track)
• Building a Usable HealthVault Application (Technical Track)
• Microsoft Amalga UIS 2009: Technical Overview (Technical Track)
• Harnessing Wellness & Enhancing Care in a World of Information Technology (Business Track)
• HealthVault Goes International (Business Track)
• A Look Into the Future With HealthVault (Technical Track)
• Computing Futures: Directions and Reflections

I watched the Computing Futures: Directions and Reflections by Dr. (x2) Eric Horvitz.

Really great stuff here that is applicable to several industries. Dr. Horvitz described several ongoing Microsoft Research projects and their applicability to the mission of Microsoft Health: to improve health, around the world, through software innovation. Science Fiction stuff here!

If you are looking for Gentle Robots, around 40 minutes into the video :) My must haves?

• 41 minutes: Interruption Workbench, you’ve got to see the video to appreciate and then (like me), you’ll want.
• 45 minutes: Life Browser, Memory, Recall and more (I need this in my advancing years).

If you like this sort of thing, you are going to love this post from Dr. Crounse on the HealthBlog: Promising New Projects at Microsoft Research May Lead to Better Healthcare. More details about the themes discussed in the session by Dr. Eric Horvitz delivered in Dr. Crounse’s very engaging style.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

In these difficult economic times, we believe it is a great time to hear the voices of customers across various industry sectors, who are driving down costs, improving efficiency, and increasing agility and quality of solutions to business problems. Whether your interest is in industry solutions, Application Lifecycle Management and/or Cloud Computing, we believe you will hear groundbreaking design and development techniques and walk away with actionable best practices for use in your business and technical decision making.

We are back with a great agenda and are coming to New York City May 5-6, 2009.

Interested? It is a free conference, consider yourself invited. Please register using this link.

See you there!

Live Framework and why should you care?

The Live Framework team recently published a short (but to the point) white paper entitled The Live Framework: What is it and Why Should I Care?

“The Live Framework provides a platform-agnostic, HTTP-based, resource-oriented programming model for accessing data. This programming model abstracts away the details of the File System, Networking APIs (for P2P and P2C), caching/storage APIs, serialization technologies, etc. and provides a consistent way to access data on all devices – PC, Mac, Mobile as well as (Windows Live) cloud. “

Contents include:

• From My Computer to My Mesh
• For what scenarios is the Live Framework relevant?
• What problems does the Live Framework help you solve?
• What is a cloud / client symmetric programming model?
• How do application developers benefit from the Live Framework?
• What is the programming model exposed by the Live Framework?
• What application types are supported by the Live Framework?
• What are the different flavors of Live Operating Environment available today?
• Do I need the Client Live Operating Environment for creating client side applications?
• What is the Live Framework Resource Model? How can applications interact with it?

Looking to jump in? This is what you’ll need to get started!

Windows 7 Beta 1 for MDC Attendees

Breaking news!!!

 

Attend an upcoming MSDN Developer Conference and you will receive a Windows 7 Beta 1 DVD.

Note:  The Windows 7 DVDs will not be ready to hand out in time for the events happening in December, but we’ll definitely mail them out to you as soon as they become available.  Everyone attending the event from Houston, Orlando and Atlanta WILL get their DVD, just not at the actual event  :-)

Register today and you’ll get the best of the PDC in your own backyard and hear all of the exciting announcements around the Azure Services Platform and Windows 7.

1. Experience Windows Azure
   Create applications that seamlessly bridge the gaps between PC, Web, and phone
2. Be among the first to see Windows 7
   See the latest advances in Multi-Touch Application Development
3. Take your .NET skills to the next level
   See sessions on WPF 4.0, Silverlight 2, The Future of C# and VB, ASP.NET 4.0, Live Mesh and more

The Cost? Just $99.
Check out the session line up…

Azure Services Platform	Client and Presentation	Tools, Languages and Framework
A Lap Around Windows Azure and the Azure Services Platform	ASP.NET and JQuery	The Future of Managed Languages: C#, and Visual Basic
Developing and Deploying Your First Azure Service	Developing Data-centric Applications Using the WPF DataGrid and Ribbon Controls	A Lap Around "Oslo"
A Lap Around the Live Framework and Mesh Services	Building Business Focused Applications using Silverlight 2	A Lap Around Visual Studio 2010
Developing Applications Using Microsoft SQL Data Services	ASP.NET 4.0 Roadmap	An Introduction to Microsoft F#

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you there!

Microsoft Health and Life Sciences Industry Council - China Healthcare Perspectives Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:00pm – 6:00pm, Microsoft Office – 74 Batterson Park Road Farmington, CT 06032

 

 

Recently, I had an opportunity to do a 2 month work rotation in China.  My primary work assignment was to experience China Healthcare first hand, exchanging best practices and industry experiences with the local Microsoft teams.  It was definitely an eye opening experience.  Prior to the engagement, I assumed that China operated under a pure socialized Healthcare model.  What I learned is that there actually operating under an emerging hybrid model that includes employer based insurance, tiered procedure based pricing, social service supplements, and incomplete population coverage models…very much like ours.  Every US based Healthcare & Insurance company is current doing business in China or will be over the next year.   Over the next few years, China will become a global focal point for Healthcare business and technology advancement.  I believe the effects of these advancements will have a long tail on how Healthcare operates here in the states.

I’d like to share these learning’s and experiences with our Healthcare and Insurance customers/partners in an informal, interactive forum.  James Chen, Director Business Development Microsoft China, is flying all the way from Beijing to Hartford to speak @ this event.  James is a SME on China’s  Healthcare and Insurance model.  Additionally, we will be doing an executive overview of Azure Platform Services & S+S, tying it to relevant Healthcare and Insurance Industry solution scenarios.  Please join us for this unique event.

 

 

Event Overview

What was once a model based on pure social services, China’s Healthcare is evolving into a hybrid blend approach that includes a mix of government price controls, fee for service disparities, social security coverage gaps/limitations, and emerging “western oriented” privatized healthcare insurance.  China is in the midst of a Healthcare Reform…essentially a breakaway from traditional social service towards a new model that will better serve China’s population from a cost, quality, and availability perspective. Currently, China’s total Healthcare spending is 4.8% of the GDP, essentially the largest country (1.3B) has the lowest total spend.  But, China is committed to significantly increasing its total spend…or, potential reversing the model making China a Healthcare leader vs. laggard.  In this session, US & China based Microsoft representatives will share perspectives and insights on what we believe will rapidly became the next  epicenter for Healthcare innovation.

 

Discussion Topics

China Healthcare Overview – “The world is flat”

“The world is flat”… a cliché that people use to illustrate broad commonalities.  It is often backed with very little evidence to prove its truth in a real world context.  But use in relation to Healthcare, and we believe it has real meaning.  In this session, we will do a contrast/compare of Healthcare in the US to Healthcare in China and put the cliché’ to the test.  

 

A Real World China Healthcare Example…

Zhoungshan City Hospital is one of China’s highest ranked Healthcare facilities from an overall quality and patient satisfaction perspective.  In this session we will do a detailed walkthrough of their population coverage, operating principles, business workflows, and technology solution augmentations, giving you a birds-eye view of how Healthcare really works in China. 

 

Emerging Technologies Sneak Peak: Microsoft Azure Platform Services

In this session, we will give a “hot off the presses” high level overview of Azure Platform Services providing perspectives and insights to how they might be leveraged to improve Global Healthcare.

 

Speakers

 

 

James Chen, Director Business Development, Microsoft China:  As an experienced senior professional with 28 years who works in multi-national large corporations such as Microsoft, BellSouth and NEC. Strong experiences in strategic planning, investment, mergers and acquisitions, also in government relations, regulatory affairs, corporate communications and business development.  Prior to Microsoft, he was a senior consultant for the President of NEC Mobility that has setup 3G wireless trial project in Shanghai. Before then James served 16 years for BellSouth in different management positions. Also, James has run two startups in USA, NetCommerce Company and the prototerra.com.  James holds a MBIS degree in Business Information Systems, a MBA degree in Marketing and Finance, also a BS degree of Oceanic Biological Engineering.  James was serving as a Board of Director of Atlanta China Round Table Meeting includes BellSouth, Coca Cola, UPS, Home Depot, Delta Airline,   and Scientific Atlanta. 

Ben Flock, Health & Life Sciences Industry Advisor:  Ben is a technology leader and Healthcare Industry subject matter expert with over 21 years experience building architectural   teams, technology practices, and business solutions delivery organizations.  Prior to Joining Microsoft in 2005, he was responsible for leveraging advancements in business applications and technology for many of the nation's largest health care insurers including CIGNA, United Health Group, Aetna, and The Travelers. He has a BS in Computer Science from SUNY at Oswego, NY and an MBA from the Lally School of Business at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Hong Chong, Architect Advisor:  Mr. Choing is a business and IT leader with 18+ years of business and technology implementation experience with proven results.  He has worked in Health &  Life Sciences industry, financial services, and professional services organizations leading strategy and architecture groups. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2004, Mr. Choing was the Manager and  Solutions Architect for a business unit of Merck & Co., Inc.  Prior to Merck in 2001, Mr. Choing was the Director of IT and Chief Architect at ProCaveo, Inc.  In 1999, Mr. Choing was the Founder and Principle Consultant of LeviTron Consulting, a professional services IT consulting company for the Financial Services and Pharmaceutical Industry. In his role as Industry Architect Advisor, Mr. Choing serves as trusted technology and business advisor to Health & Life Sciences industry customers from Fortune 200 companies.  He has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA - USA.

 

 

REGISTER!
Location	Date & Time	Registration
Microsoft Office – Farmington, CT 74 Batterson Park Road Farmington, CT 06032	December 11, 2008 2:00 PM–6:00 PM	Register Event ID: 1032395880

 

Get in the Game with Visual Studio Team System

Have you seen the new stadium they are building for Visual Studio Team System? Complete with stadium seating, here's a picture...

Follow a blend of technology, resources and practical tips at the Visual Studio Team System Cafe and join us for a Lap Around VSTS 2010 at the MSDN Developer Conference.

Code Camp - Community, Great Content, Free, Prizes, this Saturday

Join me at the Code Camp in Stamford, Connecticut this Saturday. I'll be presenting 2 sessions - What I learned at the PDC *and* Silverlight+WCF *or* PowerShell for Developers (or all 3). As far as the actual event goes, from the organizers...

We have 4 tracks with 6 sessions for a total of 24 presentations plus a lunch time chat with Richard Hale Shaw.  Some of the best regional and local developers will be speaking on some excellent topics including the latest announcements from the Professional Developers Conference such as Cloud Services and Live Framework as well as LINQ, Entity Framework, Silverlight 2.0, WCF, MVC and more.

We have a number of prizes from Red Gate, Telerik, Infragistics, Jet Brains, Microsoft and more including a Zune and an Xbox.

If you have not already registered then register now.

Https://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=132314

The Sessions

See you there!

The Best of the PDC in your neighborhood

Coming to a city near you, check for yours. The MSDN Developer Conference will sell out early. Register today.

The cities...

The agenda...

The details...

Conference web site with additional information and details.

Measure Twice; Cut Once

Microsoft just announced a new version of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit. What is it (emphasis mine)?

MAP is a scalable and agent-less assessment platform designed to make it easier for you to adopt the latest Microsoft technologies. In this version, MAP has expanded its assessment capabilities to include SQL Server 2008, Forefront/NAP, and Microsoft Online Services migration, as well as providing a Power Savings assessment to help you “go green.”

Here are the new features (there are many more):

• SQL Server Database Instance Discovery
• Microsoft Online Services Needs Assessment and Survey
• Forefront Client Security/NAP Readiness Assessment
• Power Savings Calculator
• Virtualization Infrastructure Assessment

Could you use this? How would you? Do you care? Here's why you might - from the team's blog.

During challenging economic times, many businesses like yours look to cloud-based services, such as Microsoft Online Services including Exchange Online, to outsource their IT e-mail services and reduce capital expenditures. But how can you quickly determine what it takes to migrate to Exchange Online?  What is your messaging needs for the next few years? Are your business desktops ready for the migration to “the cloud”?

Distributed Computing at the Architecture Journal

Just in time for the PDC, the latest Architecture Journal is focused on Distributed Computing. Check it out!

P.S. If you are a fan of the WPF based Reader like I am – great for offline and great digital reading experience, a reliable source mentioned that this issue will find its way to the reader (after a short time lag).

Silverlight 2 as Interoperability Glue

Say it fast and it rhymes! I was reading the press announcement that Silverlight 2.0 is ready (the bits should propagate to the web soon), and I liked this nugget:

This is great, following the link to the Soyatec's eclipse4SL page gives some screen shots and a timeline for the project.

This is really well done. For my Java buddies, this announcement (and the bits in December - fingers crossed) coupled with a cup of Silverlight, RIA and Interoperability is a very cool combo. Read more about Silverlight and Java Interop at InfoQ.

IE8 and the horse's mouth

I know it is a horrible expression, but if you are looking to get some questions answered about IE8 (Beta 2 has been out since end of August), you will want to mark your calendars for this Thursday:

The transcripts of older conversations are a great way to catch up on things you may have missed. E.g. If you are concerned about compatibility with older, quirky browser behaviors *and* you have embedded IE (e.g. like the Vista Sidebar does), then you'll want to know about this:

Q: What's the difference between Visual Studio WebBrowser and Internet Explorer 8.0 itself? Can I get IE 8.0 embedded in my Windows Forms Applications?

A: The latest version of the WebOC/Trident is automatically used in .NET applications when IE8 is installed. By default, the control operates in IE7 emulation mode.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/chats/transcripts/08_0814_ez_ie8.mspx

Developers, are you ready for IE 8?

P.S. Join the IE Team on their blog for in depth technical information.

Hello Dublin - more on .NET Framework 4.0

Dublin? Check out Steve Martin's blog for details. Follow the links for what is coming to Windows Server:

Some Healthy Posts

Nice to see Microsoft HealthVault (is a platform not a product) getting play on the MIX Online site. Worth downloading and reviewing the 15 minute interview.

And for a timely, thoughtful and thought provoking video message, hop over to the HealthBlog (some mind altering facts, e.g., healthcare consumes upwards of 17% of US GDP).

Microsoft Healthcare Information Exchange, Oct. 15th, Beijing, China

Microsoft global presence is evident in Healthcare.  It is a well kept secret intentionally or unintentionally that Microsoft has made significant investments in the healthcare industry.  This is a long term investment to improve health around the world.

On October 15th, 2008 many groups within Microsoft will come together to host a Healthcare Information Exchange Event in Beijing, China.  Event is FREE so if you happen to be in the area, please register to attend (contacts below).

Microsoft Healthcare Information Exchange

Microsoft Innovation in Healthcare: Enabling the Possibility Today & Tomorrow

 

Overview

This is a unique event designed for business decision makers & technology decision makers from partners & customers in the healthcare industry in China. We eagerly invite you to join us to discover new ideas, innovative healthcare solutions, thought leadership and strategy on how to improve health around the world.  Microsoft has made a significant investment in healthcare with a comprehensive strategy for enabling customers and partners to delivery world class solutions through Software + Services.  With market growth opportunity globally and especially here in China, you will see how Microsoft technology and solution innovations can benefit customers and partners.

•Repeatable Industry Solutions        
• Thought Leadership          
•Technology Innovations

        

Agenda

Key Topics Introduction

Keynotes: Microsoft China Healthcare Perspectives

Nigel Burton                                                      

GM - DPE Group, Microsoft GCR                      

 

 

 

 

Peter Moore

GM - PUBLIC SECTOR, Microsoft China

 

 

 

Microsoft Healthcare Products Overview

Some of you may have heard about them, others may be scratching their heads in bewilderment. This is a great opportunity to gain business insight and technology perspectives - Microsoft’s flagship Health Product brands.

 

Microsoft Healthcare Strategies & Industry Specific Solutions

Every vision and strategy must have a plan - a blueprint for execution from both a near-term and long-term perspective. In this session we discuss Architectural Best Practices such as Microsoft’s Connected Industry Framework, providing specific context and solution strategy across the Health & Life Sciences Industry.  Our Premier Partner Sponsors will describe how they are leveraging the Framework in the delivery of Health & Life Sciences Industry solutions.

Partner Ecosystem

How to build a strong & healthy ecosystem for all partners & customers to win together? The showcase might provide you the answer. We’ll invite partner & customer to present their showcase which use Microsoft’s Technology Platform in a unique, Industry impactful way, which bring more value & efficiency for their business.

 

Touch the Future with Microsoft Surface
You’ve heard of it, but NOW you can touch it. We will have a Microsoft Surface device available during this summit –Microsoft WWPS team & DPE Industry team have developed 2 Healthcare Demo applications that will be showcased at this event, attendees will be able to view, interact, and see compelling demonstrations of how Microsoft Surface can be used in Health & Life Sciences.

 

Registration & Contact:

We eagerly invite you to attend this great summit!

Please help to fill in the attached registration form & send back to the following event contact by email or by fax, we will follow up & confirm with you as soon as possible.

If you have any questions regarding event & registration, please feel free to contact with us.

 

Your Contact:

Mr. Jack Jin                                             

Email: jack.jin@force-focus.com or MSHealthcareSummit@force-focus.com                     

Tel:  (8610) 5202 6801 ext 116 (13911926375)                

Fax:  (8610) 5202 6802