Microsoft software to let patients see medical records

March 1, 2010 7:02 AM PST
Microsoft software to let patients see medical records
by Lance Whitney

Microsoft is unveiling new health care software that will give you a glimpse of your own medical records online.

The company on Monday announced its new HealthVault Community Connect software, which is geared toward hospitals interested in helping patients access their own health care history.

Following a hospital stay, you and your personal doctors can view electronic copies of your hospital records online. Using the software, you can also preregister for future hospital appointments using your existing medical information.

You log onto the hospital's patient Web site, said Microsoft, where you can call up physican notes, discharge instructions, prescriptions, and lab and radiology results. You can send copies of your hospital records to your personal HealthVault account, if you have one. HealthVault is a free service from Microsoft that lets you store and organize all your health care records online.

Your personal doctor or referring specialist can also request access to the system to keep on top of your hospital care and ongoing treatment. Microsoft said that the hospital will control the list of outside physicians who are able to tap into your records.

"With HealthVault Community Connect, we are targeting one of the fundamental gaps in the care process -- the lack of electronic information flow between the hospital, the patient and the patient's care team outside the hospital," said David Cerino, general manager of Microsoft Health Solutions Group, in a statement. "By allowing patients and their personal physicians to access electronic copies of their discharge instructions, for example, hospitals can facilitate better health outcomes by getting the relevant information into the hands of the people who need it most."

HealthVault Community Connect was announced at 2010 Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition, a health care trade show taking place in Atlanta this week.

The software is designed for any size hospital, said Microsoft. It can also integrate with a hospital's existing network enviroment and run on Microsoft's SharePoint Server. HealthVault Community Connect is slated to debut in the third quarter of this year.

With the push toward lowering medical costs by modernizing the system, Microsoft has been one of several tech companies introducing new health care products. Last year, the company formed a venture with CVS to let people download their prescription information to their HealthVault accounts. It also has been buying companies to enhance its medical portfolio, most recently picking up health care sofware maker Sentillion in December.

Microsoft's Amalga product line is designed to help doctors and patients more easily access and organize medical records and is currently being used in large hospitals such as New York-Presbyterian.
Lance Whitney wears a few different technology hats--journalist, Web developer, and software trainer. He's a contributing editor for Microsoft TechNet Magazine and writes for other computer publications and Web sites. You can follow Lance on Twitter at @lancewhit. Lance is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and he is not an employee of CNET.
Topics: Hospitals, Health recordsTags: Microsoft,HealthVault,health care,e-healthShare: Digg Del.icio.us Reddit Yahoo! BuzzFacebook Twitter

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HealthLinx identifies novel ovarian cancer biomarker Add a Comment (Log in or register) (8 Comments) prev next by dt1991 March 1, 2010 7:28 AM PST
sounds like a good program
Like this Reply to this comment by solitare_pax March 1, 2010 8:00 AM PST
True - but how secure is it?

And how is the data presented?

Once people start seeing $20 words for their issues, they'll start hunting the web for drugs or cures to offset their ailments without consulting the doctor.

And how long before free becomes 'sponsored by the "makers of the plaid pill"? or whatever?
Like this by mudphud March 1, 2010 9:04 AM PST

Hard to say. I'd have to see it in action. There are multiple hospital medical record and scheduling systems, I doubt this system will work with them very easily. It will probably require a lot of customization. It would be better to establish a single common medical record format. Unfortunately, the medical software companies prefer to lock hospitals in with custom databases.
Like this by fudbuster77 March 1, 2010 9:25 AM PST

I don't like Microsoft OR Google having my health records in their control- Heck, I don't even like the idea of my own Chosen Company of Great and Glorious Apple to have that sort of information. I just don't trust it-

HOWEVER

I have also had experience and exposure to how poorly the health care industry actually secures data and patient records. In this regard, I would rather trust Microsoft/Google than our own health care companies as they have demonstrated they have zero clue when it comes to IT Security.
Like this Reply to this comment by Mr. Dee March 1, 2010 12:30 PM PST

Sooner or later this is what you will have to do because its way more efficient.
Like this by ehfla March 1, 2010 1:32 PM PST

Long live paper records! Yeah fudbuster....let's keep the current system where doctors have to wait hours or days to view x-rays, or days or weeks to get lab results. Better yet....how about the stone tablet?
Like this by globalist_agenda March 1, 2010 10:21 AM PST

Why aren't hospital prices posted? Don't you think that when consumers spend 1/6 of the GDP on healthcare that they should be able to see medical prices for fees and services BEFORE they make a purchase? If McDonald's didn't tell you in advance how much that $1 chicken sandwhich costs the state and Fed bureacrats would shut them down in 30 minutes.

Face it Demo-Pubs, there is virtually no transparancy in the healthcare system because you get a large chunk of your campaign funding from Big Pharma and Big Medicine and the last thing they want is an informed consumer.
Like this Reply to this comment 1 person likes this comment
by mental_floss March 1, 2010 1:40 PM PST

Given Microsoft's track record on privacy and security issues you might as well post your health records on a public blog. My hopes are they fail, as they have so often lately (Zune, Bing, phone OS) and let companies with at least a shred of moral backbone provide health care record services.

Comment

The VA has had computerized medical records for over ten years now. Any doctor with the proper permission can access the records of any patient anytime, anywhere.