Now more than ever we, at Microsoft, are investing in connected health — to bring people, systems and information together. Modernizing health information is a systematic approach to use ICT and real-time business intelligence to help improve patient care and safety, achieve better health and lifestyle management, and enhance operational performance while keeping costs under control. In fact, cloud-based health records offer the features needed “to equip Europeans with secure online access to their medical health data by 2015” (Key Action 13, Digital Agenda for Europe).

With HealthVault we are able to connect care from the home to the clinic to the hospital to the research lab, and do so in a way that includes and encourages innovation from as many different organizations as possible. For example, our U.S. instance of HealthVault has just gone mobile, so that users can access their health information from their mobile device and automatically see it in a layout specially-designed for quick access. The integration libraries for Windows Phone 7, iOS and Android are already available.

Approximately 300 applications are connected to the U.S. HealthVault platform to help people lead healthier lives and manage a wide range of conditions, such as allergies, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, pregnancy and several others. HealthVault also connects to more than 70 devices — including blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, weight scales, pedometers and peak flow meters — allowing individuals to easily track, manage and share important health data in support of their health and fitness goals.

We are excited to take on the challenge of empowering people to take more control over their own health and stand ready to partner with developers and healthcare practitioners to offer interactive applications that will optimise the delivery of care for a healthier Europe. Google Health users can easily migrate their data to HealthVault here. 

Stay tuned on Microsoft in Health.

Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. Over the past 13 years, Microsoft has steadily increased its investments in health with a focus on addressing the challenges of health providers, health and social services organizations, payers, consumers, and life sciences companies worldwide. Microsoft closely collaborates with a broad ecosystem of partners and delivers its own powerful health solutions, such as Amalga, HealthVault, and a portfolio of identity and access management technologies acquired from Sentillion Inc. in 2010. Together, Microsoft and its industry partners are working to deliver health solutions for the way people aspire to work and live.

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