Microsoft Announces New Online Health Records System
Microsoft Announces New Online Health Records System
October 9, 2007: Microsoft has made a major play in the healthcare sector, announcing the launch of a new technology platform aimed at ultimately helping patients better manage their medical information.
Called HealthVault, Microsoft says the new software and services platform will bring the health and technology industries together to create new applications, services and connected devices that help people manage and monitor their personal health information online.
The platform has received broad industry support in the US, something Microsoft says reflects the platform’s power to create innovative new solutions. The HealthVault applications are available free and comprise of three products; HealthVault Search, the HealthVault repository account and the HealthVault Connection Center.
HealthVault Search is a search engine designed to give the most relevant online health content and connect results with HealthVault-compatible products, while the HealthVault repository account is an encrypted online e-health record that users and their families can share with doctors.Finally, the HealthVault Connection Center is a central place where users can find "plug-and-play" drivers for health monitoring devices such as diabetes meters and heart-rate monitors to connect to the HealthVault accounts.
As highly private medical histories are part of the service, security is an obvious concern that immediately crops up. To promote peace of mind, Microsoft claims the platform has been created in cooperation with leading privacy advocates, respected security experts and dozens of the world’s leading healthcare organisations.
“HealthVault prohibits onward transfer of data without explicit informed consent; its contractual obligations with advertisers require protection of any data transferred from the platform; its privacy policy is simple and easy to understand,” said Dr. Deborah Peel, founder of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation. “That means consumers finally have a trusted place to store their personal health information that will not be data-mined, because they alone control it.”
So far 40 organisations including the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, Diet.com, LifeScan Inc., and Texas Instruments Inc. have signed up to produce products to work with HealthVault. Microsoft says that other developers interested in building their own compatible products can download a software development kit from the service’s website.
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