BELLEVUE, Wash. — June 9, 2008 — At the second Microsoft HealthVault Solutions Conference today, a wide range of health technology companies introduced more than 40 new online health applications and devices designed to improve information sharing between patients and physicians; promote fitness, wellness and workplace productivity; and give people innovative online tools to manage their health and the health of their families more effectively than what is available today. These applications and devices take advantage of new features in HealthVault, Microsoft’s consumer health platform.
“Every day health organizations approach us with new ideas to improve the health of individuals and families,” said Peter Neupert, corporate vice president, Health Solutions Group at Microsoft. “We’re excited to see so many of those ideas brought to market using HealthVault.”
Improved Patient-Doctor Data Exchange
Several participating companies — including Allscripts LLC, CapMed, CitiusTech, Eclipsys Corp., HealthUnity Corp., Kryptiq Corp. and Vital Data Technology LLC — are introducing new health technology solutions that transfer information between a patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) or clinical record and the patient’s HealthVault account. This connection opens new channels of online communication between patients and physicians and provides greater opportunity to share a patient’s complete health information for more informed care decisions.
Through HealthVault, for example, patients of physicians using the free e-prescribing product Allscripts ePrescribe (formerly known as eRxNOW) will be able to receive an electronic copy of their medication history, conditions and allergies, which they can then make available to their own personal health record or other connected applications. Any updates made to the patient record by a physician using Allscripts ePrescribe can be automatically updated in the patient’s HealthVault record with the patient’s consent.
New digital-signature functionality in HealthVault can further enhance information sharing by verifying whether data sent to a HealthVault account has been altered. With digital-signature support, HealthVault allows an initial creator or source of information to virtually sign it, enabling clinicians to check whether a piece of patient health data has been changed by patients or others authorized by them to access the data. This means physicians can have confidence in the integrity of patient data that they are not the source or provider of.
New Personal Health Records, Applications
New personal health records and applications introduced by ActiveHealth Management Inc., CapMed, Healthy Circles LLC, Medikeeper Inc., NoMoreClipboard.com and WorldDoc Inc. will work with HealthVault to allow people to consolidate, store and use personal health information to better manage their own health and the health of family members.
ActiveHealth Management introduced the ActivePHR program, an online personal health record that stores information in consumers’ HealthVault records. ActivePHR provides an electronic home for a person’s health information and generates actionable alerts when opportunities to improve care are identified.
WorldDoc Inc. announced the connection of its consumer care management system with HealthVault, allowing a user to pull personal data from HealthVault into WorldDoc’s systems, as well as make updates to personal data in HealthVault from the WorldDoc system. WorldDoc’s consumer care management system will enable users to evaluate symptoms, understand their health issues, assess health risks and take steps to decrease those risks. Connection with HealthVault increases the relevance and effectiveness of the interventions and decision support that WorldDoc users receive.
New HealthVault-Enabled Devices and New Device Types
WorldDoc, ActivePHR and other personal health applications become increasingly useful to individuals and family health managers as the ecosystem of applications and devices that work with HealthVault continues to grow. Several new devices and device categories — including weight scale, body composition scale, pulse oximeter and pedometer — have been enabled for HealthVault from A&D Medical, Home Diagnostics Inc., HoMedics Inc., LifeScan Inc., Microlife Corp., Nonin Medical Inc., OMRON Corp., Polar and Tanita Corp. Individuals using HealthVault can monitor blood pressure, blood glucose levels, peak flow, oxygen saturation of blood, weight, body fat percentage, body mass index, aerobic steps, calories and distance traveled, for example, and share this information with ActivePHR, WorldDoc and other applications that can use that data to form recommendations for improving care and health.
HealthVault users also can provide this personal data to their primary care physician, specialists, designated family health manager or anyone else they authorize. HealthVault allows for adding custodians of accounts, giving family health managers the ability to help manage the care and health of loved ones more easily and effectively than what is available today.
New Fitness and Wellness Solutions
New solutions for fitness, wellness and employee productivity also feature prominently at the HealthVault Solutions Conference. Podfitness Inc. introduced a new HealthVault-connected application that can recognize when an individual has certain conditions (such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes), illustrate the expected impact of an exercise program on that condition, and provide condition-specific information with workouts.
PureWellness Inc. has connected its online wellness platform with HealthVault to provide consumers with easy access to their nutrition plans, fitness programs, and a wide range of health-tracking tools and reporting options.
Limeade Inc.’s new Wellness Bundle integrates with leading wellness solutions including biometric health screening and fitness tracking, provided by partners Physicians Wellness Network, Polar Electro and Omron Healthcare Inc. With HealthVault, users can share private health and fitness data from these services with Limeade, enabling targeted improvement plans, easier goal-tracking, and ultimately improved wellness and workplace productivity for employees.
More information on HealthVault and third-party applications and devices can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/healthvault/default.mspx.
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