Microsoft Australia in Health

Folks here is a great example of HealthVault being used to genuinely deliver strategies to reduce childhood obesity by using technology incentives to improve diet and physical activity. The project was driven by the Columbus Research Foundation, who were one of our ‘Be Well’ grant recipients. New models of care and preventative medicine are now becoming a reality because Microsoft has created a new platform for consumers, care givers and wellness organisations to interact. Very interesting to watch:

http://co1piltwb.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/mcoeredir/mcoeredirect.aspx?linkId=12200493&s1=f212a576-4a7f-3e35-3122-da7ed1e76ea3

Telstra current Bedside Computing solution (developed with Wandsworth) is a fantastic example of industrial design in Healthcare. The bedside computing solution has been customised to ‘stand out’ as a clinical tool rather than simply a PC at the bedside. The design has clearly factored both the patient and the clinician in as the core end users and the end result is really impressive. If you have not seen the bedside computing solution in use, here is a great video shot at the Lyell McEwen Hospital in Adelaide that shows off the device and both the clinical and patient benefits. The solution runs on a windows and windows server platform.

Lyell McEwin Hospital Case Study Video

This week, the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare released their latest (2007-08) report on pretty much everything you want to know about Australian hospitals. You can access the report at the following link: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10776

Folks, below is a link to a video that overviews a solution built by one of our Health Partners, nSynergy.

nSynergy have built a Windows Mobile based solution to track and prompt nurse training while they are in the field gaining practical experience. The solution also provides a vehicle for two way communication and additional learning material to be published. This is a great use of technology for skills transfer and to get the new wave of Nursing graduates to see technology as a fundamental work tool.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVs2qAyNG0s 

Depending on the research you read, between 40% and 60% of consumers use the internet to find information on health. As I am sure you have experienced, most search engines overloaded you with information (the ‘10 blue links per page’ syndrome) and you never quite know whether the information comes from reputable sources. Microsoft has used the health search design principles that Medstory (the Health Search Engine we purchased0 in Bing. When you search for Health info on Bing, it provides the headings for the most common themes it brings back in the hits in a list of topics. It also preferences reputable sources over popular sources.

There is a great TV ad screening in the US at present that explains (not so subtly) the information overload of current search engines that Bing is designed to overcome. Enjoy …

video

Congratulations to the team at iCare for winning both Company of the Year and Implementation of the Year for a facility under 150 beds at the Aged Care Industry IT Awards. Great to see Microsoft partners retaining such prominence in the Industry.

Folks, there is a great new video on the HealthVault website that shows how leading healthcare organisations (in this case the Mayo Clinic) are leveraging the HealthVault Platform. Health providers are leveraging the platform to improve their engagement with patients and empower them to become a more active participant in their own management. The video is a great example of how even in a patient consented EHR model, the traditional healthcare system is empowered to expand their health services. It is a misperception that the patient consented EHR model is in conflict with the physician controlled EHR model. Both can co-exist, however if you want to change what the patient is able to do with the information you give them access to, the patient consented EHR model is more likely to achieve that. Organisations like Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, Aetna, New York Presbyterian, Blue Cross Blue Shield etc have realised the power of the HealthVault model and are major drivers of the content/services on the platform in the US. We anticipate that our recent announcement to build the HealthVault platform in Canada with Telus, will replicate the same level of engagement from the traditional health system.

Watch Now!

Folks, by now most of you will have read through the Federal Health Budget, some of you all 764 pages! For those of you who have not, here is the link.

I wanted to provide a perspective from inside Microsoft where we remain optimistic about the growth in current Health IT investment. Although the lack of a dedicated stimulus package around the National eHealth Strategy is disappointing, the Government appears to still be committed to executing on that strategy which was endorsed by all Health Ministers in October 2008.

It is not clear when COAG will make a decision on that, but in the interim the budget will allow for increased public spending on building new facilities, industrialising the core IT infrastructure, improving workforce productivity, workforce training, collaboration, communication, data exchange, consumer engagement etc. These are core capabilities that you, our Microsoft Partners have a wealth of expertise in.

The $22.4 Billion funding boost in the Australian Healthcare Agreements will have a flow on effect on IT spending. Our platform and your skills are well placed to capitalise on this increase in the availability of funds that will trickle down to IT.

Folks, please excuse the double posts for those of you who would have received this from other DL’s, but yesterday the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission released a supplementary paper to their Interim Report. The paper focuses on Electronic Health Records and it is very pleasing to see the Commission come out strongly in favour of the Person Controlled model. The paper actually makes a very strong case for HealthVault which can already deliver on most of the capabilities the Commission desires.

The media announcement can be found at:  http://www.nhhrc.org.au/internet/nhhrc/publishing.nsf/Content/mediaRelease300409

The paper itself can be found at:

http://www.nhhrc.org.au/internet/nhhrc/publishing.nsf/Content/BA7D3EF4EC7A1F2BCA25755B001817EC/$File/Person-controlled%20Electronic%20Health%20Records.pdf

Folks, a good overview of the role we are taking in assisting with the Swine Flue containment efforts.

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=355866

Folks, great to see Microsoft sponsored research extend medical applications of smart phones. Convergence of devices like this will be yet another step towards extending diagnostic services outside of the traditional acute care sector. You can read the article on the following link: http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/13928.html

Folks, version 2 of the Connected Health Framework was released this week. Please excuse the cut and paste nature of this blog, but some of the quotes from the press release are fantastic.

“Our healthcare clients expect the solutions we deliver to align with their cost and quality improvement requirements. This requires solutions that are adaptable, scalable and interoperable,” said Chuck Lyles, president of Perot Systems’ Healthcare Group. “We focus on developing e-health applications that adhere to these principles, and we were pleased that through the creation of CHF and CHP, Microsoft is offering the industry a means to collaborate on these best practices. As CHF and CHP continue to grow in content and adoption, the time to develop and the quality of e-health solutions that provide tangible business value should improve.”

And

“Providing clinicians with timely and relevant clinical decision support solutions that analyze and interpret patient data — when, where and how clinicians need that care-specific information — is key to improving clinical and fiscal outcomes,” said David Russell, vice president of marketing and chief marketing officer, Healthcare Informatics for Philips Healthcare. “Microsoft is making it easier for Philips to accelerate interoperability and ease of use by making available valuable guidance and tools as part of the Connected Health Platform that we can use and innovate upon to build solutions for our customers. With everyone on the same page, the opportunity to develop truly collaborative and innovative solutions exponentially increases.”

The actual press release can be found here

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/apr09/04-06HIMSS09PR.mspx

The direct link to the Connected Health Framework (along with a plethora of other health specific resources) can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/HealthIT 

Folks, most of you will have been keeping abreast of the the press coverage in Victoria around the falsification of hospital data, where hospitals have been creating ‘ghost wards’ and manipulating waiting lists, to secure performance bonuses.

Transparency remains a genuine challenge in Healthcare. The reason organisations have been able to get away with this is that reporting has been largely a manual process or a retrospective analysis of incomplete data.

More and more you will see investments in Clinical and Financial Dashboard as healthcare organisations have to comply with the increasing reporting and compliance requirements.  It is not just a Victoria issue, see the following press release from NSW Health today (http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/2009/20090330_00.html)

For Microsoft Partners with BI/Reporting and SharePoint skills, now could not be a better time to engage in Health

Folks, this is a fantastic interview with Dr Bill Crounse (our WW Director for Health) on Fox News. The interview runs for 9 minutes (uninterrupted) which is a good indication of the media interest Microsoft has generated around our investments in Health. In the interview, Dr Crounse articulates very succinctly how we as a company are adding value to consumers and caregivers alike. Ultimately, how we are leveraging our competencies as a software platform company, to improve healthcare services and health outcomes around the world.

The direct link can be accessed here: Sky News Health Report_Interview Bill Corunse_07.03.09_00.09.32min.wmv

eRx, the Health Reform initiative underwritten by the Pharmacy Guild of Australia and lead by Fred Health (one of our key Health Partners who specialise in pharmacy systems) announced that Best Practice, who produce one of the countries fastest growing Medical Software packages for GP’s and Specialists, has formally joined the project.

This is a great outcome for this very important initiative. Being able to send electronic scripts from the GP/Specialist desktop to participating pharmacies around the country will be a great leap forward for Australia as we build towards more efficiency, efficacy and customer service for our citizens.

For further information you can go to:

or myself

Dr David Dembo,
Microsoft Australia
M: 0402 434 343