Microsoft has launched its first vertical cloud platform for healthcare providers, bundling its Azure cloud infrastructure service with elements of Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will become generally available at the end of the month. The company said it will make it “faster and easier” for healthcare providers to deliver “more efficient care” while supporting features such as data security, interoperability and compliance.
The platform is said to work with both structured and unstructured data, and gives medical providers access to a wide range of cloud and artificial intelligence-based services, including AI bots for virtual consultations.
The offering also makes it possible for patients to access secure medical portals so they can see their personal health data, and provides mobile tools so they can interact with their healthcare teams. Providers can offer telehealth, acute care triage, diagnosis and treatment services, and follow up on them with their customers.
“Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare helps empower teams to collaborate and share knowledge in a single secure place, with advanced messaging features including priority notifications, smart camera and message delegation,” Tom McGuinness, corporate vice president of worldwide health at Microsoft, said.
“Health teams can use data integrated across clinical systems, applications, and electronic health records to help accelerate treatment decisions and improve patient care.”
There’s more to come too, since Microsoft said it is working with independent software vendors and system integrators to create more innovative systems and solutions for healthcare providers on top of the platform.
Microsoft promised during its Build 2020 event in May that it would be launching cloud platforms for several different industry verticals in the future. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s no surprise that it has chosen healthcare for its first industry vertical.
BJ Moore, Executive Vice President and CIO of Providence stated:
“At Providence, our vision of health for a better world drives us to continuously innovate on behalf of our caregivers and patients. As part of our journey to simplify, modernize and innovate across our technology ecosystem, we are proud to have not only adopted but also to have contributed to the development of key capabilities of the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare.
By bringing together the right technology and data at the point of care – along with powerful solutions such as machine learning and artificial intelligence – we are empowering clinicians on the front lines. And as the first health system in the U.S. to treat COVID-19, this has made a critical difference in Providence’s ability to respond rapidly to the pandemic. Going forward, we are excited about how these innovations will further ease the way of our caregivers so they can better serve our patients and extend our healing mission to more people in need.”
