Microsoft HealthVault Extends Access To Hospital Data

Microsoft has unveiled HealthVault Community Connect, software aimed at helping the coordination of care between hospitals and referring-doctors while engaging patients.

HealthVault Community Connect allows hospitals of any size to to give post-discharge access to patient data to patients and their referring doctors. The application, unveiled at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Atlanta Tuesday, is the latest in Microsoft's line of HealthVault products.

HealthVault Community Connect allows patients to pre-register for hospital procedures and admissions via the hospital's Web portal. At that time, patients can create a HealthVault personal e-health record account.

When patients are discharged from the hospital, copies of information regarding their care are moved into the patient's HealthVault account, so that it can be accessed via the Web.

That hospital information includes discharge instructions, clinical notes, radiology notes, EKG reports, and other data.

In addition, the patient can give permission to his or her referring doctor -- whether it's a primary care physician, specialist, or another -- to also access that information via the hospital's portal.

Because the data is formatted in XML, it can be integrated into the physician's electronic medical records, said David Cerino, general manager of Microsoft health solutions group.

"This is true continuum of care workflow," Cerino said.

The first hospital to sign up for the service is Brooks Health in Jacksonville, Fla., he said. Brooks includes a 140-bed in-patient facility for physical therapy rehab services, as well as 25 outpatient centers.

In addition to introducing HealthVault Community Connect at HIMSS, Microsoft showcased how its other key health IT offering, Amalga, is being used by industry players.

Among those customers is the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange, which is using Amalga as an "integrator" bringing together the diverse array of patient data sourced from several Milwaukee area hospitals and other providers, said the exchange's executive director Kim Pemble.

Emergency department physicians can retrieve this data, including information about patients' previous ED visits and diagnoses, before treating patients.

The Wisconsin Health Information Exchange is hoping to bring the system statewide, said Pemble in an interview with InformationWeek.