Microsoft has announced the launch of a new healthcare-specific solution – Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare – which brings together a tailored set of capabilities that will help healthcare providers improve collaboration, engage patients, and gain deep insights into healthcare data to improve efficiency and operational outcomes.
Most of the capabilities delivered by Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare are not new, they have been available for some time through solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Azure, Azure IoT, Microsoft 365, and Microsoft chatbots, but the new offering make these solutions more accessible and highlights what can be achieved through Microsoft cloud solutions.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare sits on top of a platform that makes it easy for data to be shared between different applications and supports in-depth analysis of data collected from this applications, to deliver important insights that will help clinicians with decision making.
“By providing the right information at the right time, the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will help hospitals and care providers better manage the needs of patients and staff and make resource deployments more efficient,” explained Microsoft. In addition to providing capabilities that can improve patient engagement and make healthcare workflows more efficient, the solution improves end-to-end security compliance and accessibility of data, driving better operational outcomes. In addition to the capabilities provided by Microsoft, third-party solutions developed through the its extensive partner ecosystem delivers solutions that integrate fully into Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare to extend Microsoft’s core cloud capabilities.
“The Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare helps healthcare organizations to engage in more proactive ways with their patients, allows caregivers to improve the efficiency of their workflows and streamline interactions with Classified as Microsoft Confidential patients with more actionable results,” explained Microsoft.
Some of the capabilities of the solution were highlighted by Microsoft in a blog post announcing the launch of the new solution. Microsoft explained that hospitals have adopted the Booking app, which allows clinicians to easily engage patients without leaving their existing workflows. This is combined with Microsoft Teams to allow clinicians to conduct telehealth visits.
The solution allows healthcare providers to develop patient engagement portals that automate appointment booking and physician referrals and allow the creation of medical forms. The portals can also incorporate chatbots to improve the patient experience.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare includes Dynamics 365 Marketing and Customer Service which support the creation of individual care plans for patients, and through Microsoft Azure IoT, data collected from patients’ medical devices is delivered to clinicians. These solutions help hospitals to reduce readmissions.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare was launched on May 19, 2020 and is available in public preview. The new offering will be rolled out in Q4, 2020, but is available on a free trial for the next 6 months. This is the first industry-specific cloud offering from Microsoft and several others will be launched this year to help organizations in other industry sectors.
