The following post is from Dr. Dennis Schmuland, Chief Health Strategy Officer, U.S. Health and Life Sciences, Microsoft.
This week, we are at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's (HIMSS) 2014 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla., showing off the innovative ways our partners and customers are using technology to transform the healthcare industry. With the use of mobile devices, social apps, cloud services, and big data and analytics, healthcare providers are able to offer patients better care and lower costs.
Together with some of our partners in the industry, Microsoft on Monday announced new electronic medical record (EMR) apps and solutions on Windows 8.1, Surface and Windows Embedded technology that make better and more streamlined care a reality. This includes our work with leading EMR vendors like Epic’s Hyperspace 2014 app for clinicians. With massive EMR investments and increased EMR adoption now becoming the standard, these new apps on clinical grade devices will enable mobile, multi-disciplinary care teams to more quickly and easily communicate with each other and access their full function EMRs from anywhere at any time. We’re seeing significant uptake of the move to these types of solutions because they help make clinicians more productive on the move. This allows clinicians to spend more time caring for their patients and less time juggling multiple devices and workstations.
And it’s not only about EMR integration on mobile tablets, as critical as that is. We see true transformation in the remote consultations and care being delivered to patients. For example, alongside AirStrip, we are demonstrating revolutionary point-of-care solutions like the AirStrip ONE Cardiology app, which allows clinicians the ability to read EKG data from an FDA-cleared app for Windows 8.1 tablets, workstations and Windows Phone 8 devices. This powerful tool lets clinicians access AirStrip ONE Cardiology both within and beyond a hospital’s walls, which can have an immediate impact on saving lives and reducing costs.
The incentives for positively impacting health through technologies like Microsoft have never been greater. Health organizations’ revenues are expected to fall significantly over the next 10 years and organizations are getting paid to keep patients healthy, rather than getting paid for the services they provide. Add to that the fact that consumers are becoming more engaged in their health, seeking new ways to better understand and protect their health, and you have true ingredients for change.
As we look at the current landscape, it’s safe to say we are seeing some noteworthy themes. From an increase in EMR integration on clinical grade tablets to an improvement in real-time analytics that is driving down costs, readmission rates and unnecessary waste, it’s clear that technology and policy are rapidly aligning to transform both the practice of medicine and the patient experience. There is no better time to be part of this transformation.
Microsoft remains a committed partner to the healthcare industry, providing critical technology solutions that keep patient data safe and streamline processes to improve the health care experience for all. To that end, Microsoft is committed to carrying out an audacious mission that we cannot accomplish alone:
To collaborate and innovate with industry, academic and government leaders and consumers to transform healthcare from an economic threat into an advantage.
We believe that technology can help us achieve this mission with our customers and 28,000 partners in health. That is why we offer a family of devices, cloud services and partner solutions, backed by Microsoft’s industry leading Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Business Associate Agreement (BAA), which empowers everyone at home, at work and on the go to do the things we value the most, especially when that involves our health.
Come visit us this year in our booth (#4749) at HIMSS to see how these transformative technologies come to life.
Here are a few other resources to follow: