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Microsoft is helping organizations set a course for recovery and resiliency in an ever-changing healthcare environment. At Microsoft Ignite, we\u2019re announcing the general availability date for Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare<\/a> and revealing more enhanced capabilities that help organizations adapt to the disruption, and build scalable modalities of care while safeguarding patients, care teams, and assets\u2014the keys to making healthcare more accessible, efficient, and affordable\u2014for all.<\/p>\n Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is how Microsoft, and our partner ecosystem, helps healthcare organizations re-imagine tomorrow: by empowering everyone to deliver value faster, to make more impactful decisions to set a clear course for the future, and to adapt and transform with boundless agility. We\u2019re helping shape and scale digital health capabilities that empower healthcare organizations to get inspired with insights, tools, resources, and rapidly build solutions to drive better experiences, insights, and care.<\/p>\n I\u2019m pleased to announce that Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will be generally available on October 30, 2020, including managed services designed to support healthcare organizations. <\/span><\/span>This integrated solution<\/span><\/span>\u00a0enables customers to quickly access a portfolio of released and new healthcare capabilities tailored to the unique requirements of health data in the cloud.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span>It<\/span><\/span>\u00a0unlock<\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span>\u00a0the power of Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Power Platform<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/span>\u00a0and our ecosystem of partner healthcare solutions<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>to create trusted end-to-end cloud-based solutions.\u00a0 Healthcare organizations can engage<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>in more proactive ways with patients and give caregivers tools to improve\u00a0<\/span><\/span>data interoperability,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>workflow efficiency<\/span><\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>and streamline interactions.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are a couple areas where I believe cloud technology for healthcare like Microsoft\u2019s can play a critical role in a future that\u2019s based on digital technologies, both focused on interoperability. The first is interoperability between systems, allowing us to take data from health records and other data sources, over FHIR interfaces, and combine it together into a single place where it can be used to inform and deliver patient-centric care. The second is to enable real-time complex deep learning by normalizing data from different systems in a way that allows complex algorithmic analyses to occur via AI or ML, and integrate research-based insights back into a clinical workflow.\u201d Matt Kull, CIO, Cleveland Clinic<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients\u2019 demand for digital health solutions has grown exponentially. More than ever, being connected is critical to creating an individualized patient experience. Patients are actively seeking digital tools that allow them to be seen by their health provider without leaving their homes. Healthcare is going through rapid change and the focus on improving long-term patient outcomes and experiences is growing.<\/p>\n Healthcare systems and providers across the world are under pressure to create a future where patients are engaged in their own healthcare, clinicians can securely access patient information and knowledge that enhances their clinical practice, and the health system is integrated, high performing, and sustainable.<\/p>\n Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare will help organizations transform and enhance patient engagement by providing proactive ways to deliver a seamless care experience and help to improve workflow efficiency. The general availability release will provide the following new capabilities:<\/p>\n Chief Information Officer<\/span>\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network Chad\u00a0<\/span>Brisendine<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>shared his thoughts on Microsoft <\/span>Cloud for Healthcare.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cWe’ve been using Microsoft products like Teams, Dynamics 365, Power Apps, Power BI, and Azure for a while now. We’re excited about Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare because it will bring together all of these solutions into a connected, robust experience for our frontline workers\u2014empowering our care teams while protecting patient privacy.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Using Microsoft Cloud for <\/span>Healthcare organizations can engage in more proactive ways with patients<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>streamline communications,\u00a0<\/span>enhance\u00a0<\/span>care coordination<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>improve\u00a0<\/span>health<\/span>\u00a0team efficiency and productivity<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAt this time in history, it\u2019s so important to have a cloud environment that endeavors to improve patient care, improve experiences for patients and the healthcare providers, and better engage patients all the way around. With interoperability of healthcare data being so important and a willingness to adopt digital health experiences, this is the perfect time for Microsoft to deliver their Cloud for Healthcare.\u201d \u2013 Lynne Dunbrack, Group VP for IDC Public Sector, IDC<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Providers need tools to help their clinicians provide the best possible care. We continue to expand Microsoft Teams capabilities to Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare that connect and empower care teams to securely collaborate and communicate, helping clinicians and administrators perform their jobs more effectively. We just announced<\/a> the general availability of Teams templates<\/a> that can help enable teams to start collaborating quickly with the right set of channels, tabs, apps, and settings that can be catered to their specific industry and scenario.<\/p>\n We are continuing to invest in solutions that leverage Teams to meet the unique needs of the healthcare industry. We\u2019re making virtual care easier with the Microsoft Teams EHR connector, now in preview<\/a>. This connector will allow clinicians and patients to launch Teams virtual visits right from Epic\u2019s patient and provider portals. We also have a rich set of APIs to allow for Teams integration into other existing healthcare workflows.<\/p>\n Virtual visit experiences on mobile have been streamlined. Patients will soon be able to receive a text confirmation of their appointment, a reminder, and a link to join. With Mobile WebRTC, patients no longer even need to install an app on their device for the visit.<\/p>\n Care team collaboration has also gotten easier with Lists in Teams, giving the entire care team a smart tracking system to huddle and collaborate on their patients. They can run processes like multi-disciplinary team meetings, discharge planning, rounding, nurse huddles, and more.<\/p>\n According to a recent McKinsey & Co. report<\/a>, healthcare providers reported 50 to 175 fold increases in telehealth patient volumes since the onset of the pandemic. This demonstrates the potential for telehealth services to improve care access and quality, patient outcomes, and healthcare system efficiency. The report urged healthcare providers to act now to scale the use of highly secure, workflow-integrated telehealth technology, incorporate virtual visits into the continuum of care, and expand services to more patient encounters and medical specialties.<\/p>\n To transform provider and patient experiences during virtual visits, Nuance Communications Inc.<\/a> and Microsoft announce the integration of the Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience\u2122 (DAX\u2122)<\/a> with Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n \u201cThe dramatic growth of telehealth represents a unique opportunity to use Nuance DAX ambient clinical intelligence technology to transform healthcare experiences and define what healthcare providers and consumers should expect from advanced digital health solutions. Our strategic partnership with Microsoft, which lead to this rapid integration of Nuance DAX with Microsoft Teams for telehealth, illustrates the ongoing importance of combining our technologies, domain expertise, and market reach to develop advanced cloud-based conversational AI solutions that keep the health of clinicians and patients front and center in healthcare delivery.\u201d<\/em> Diana Nole, Executive Vice President, and General Manager of Healthcare, Nuance<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Nuance DAX solution was innovated by Nuance and Microsoft, and this new integration into Microsoft Teams is part of both companies\u2019 ongoing partnership to accelerate the adoption of ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) and to further improve healthcare experiences and reduce administrative workloads to help promote clinician wellness.<\/p>\n FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is rapidly becoming the global interoperability standard for secure and private exchange of health data. The Azure API for FHIR<\/a> and the suite of tools like the HL7 FHIR Converter<\/a> and Tools for Anonymization<\/a> provide a powerful foundation in Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare to organizations with a trusted pipeline to ingest, manage, and persist protected health information (PHI) data in the cloud.<\/p>\n However, true interoperability in healthcare means enabling all kinds of healthcare data\u2014not just those coming from clinical records. We\u2019ve strengthened Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare with the Azure IoT Connector for FHIR<\/a> to bring data from medical devices, apps, and remote monitoring scenarios into FHIR. In our continued efforts to expand the ecosystem of FHIR, we\u2019re excited to bring the newly announced open-source software Medical Imaging Server for DICOM<\/a> into Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare. This open-source offering allows health organizations to easily ingest and persist medical imaging files in the cloud, and integrate imaging metadata with clinical data in a FHIR format. It\u2019s an exciting new tool for developers in building longitudinal patient health records. Read more about the Medical Imaging Server for DICOM<\/a> and how it is helping enable new opportunities in AI\/ML and research.<\/p>\n Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare comes to life through the combination of what Microsoft and our rich partner ecosystem are doing to build, extend, and connect patient and care team experiences across the cloud. Our healthcare partner ecosystem does this in five key ways:<\/p>\n We\u2019re continuing to expand and support our robust ecosystem of healthcare partners who can provide solutions that complement and extend Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare core capabilities. Using these partners\u2019 expertise will help organizations through EHR and platform integrations, implementation services, and healthcare SaaS offerings.<\/p>\n This global crisis has now forced payors, providers, patients, and other health stakeholders to stress-test digital modalities of deploying healthcare. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare\u2019s connected cloud is designed to address that need\u2014enabling organizations with the speed and agility to adjust to change, build resiliency that help them weather today\u2019s challenges so they can begin to reimagine tomorrow.<\/p>\nEnhance patient engagement<\/h2>\n
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Empower health team collaboration<\/h2>\n
This integrated solution:<\/h3>\n
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Improve clinical insights through FHIR, IoT, and DICOM interoperability<\/h2>\n
How Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare comes to life<\/h2>\n
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