Top

Newly Launched Sikorsky Aircraft Web Site Features New Look

February 25, 2008

Microsoft Corp. today bolstered its commitment to improving people’s health through software
innovation with the announcement of the Microsoft HealthVault Be Well Fund
and request for proposals. The $3 million initiative is designed to empower
providers with targeted funding to stimulate the research and development
of online tools that improve health. The announcement was made at the
health IT industry’s largest conference, Healthcare Information and
Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008 Annual Conference & Exhibition.
Microsoft and its healthcare industry partners will be showcasing early
examples of provider- patient scenarios on the Microsoft HealthVault
platform at HIMSS 2008, illustrating how the ability to maintain and
persistently access a complete record of health information can lead to
improved patient-provider interactions that help to facilitate better
health outcomes.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )

“Whether you are a healthcare provider or consumer, the inability to
access information where and when it’s needed is a huge source of
frustration and can result in incomplete care and wellness decisions,” said
Peter Neupert, corporate vice president, Health Solutions Group, Microsoft.
“As consumers begin to demand better health solutions, and providers look
to better engage with their patients, the industry can benefit from a
renewed push for innovative development that will bring to life
yet-to-be-imagined Web applications that help people live longer, healthier
lives.”

The fund is aimed at stimulating solution development across a broad
range of health disciplines that have the potential to improve health
outcomes for both patients and health-conscious consumers. This supports
the goal of the HealthVault platform, which is focused on creating an
ecosystem of health solutions that accelerate connections between
consumers, physicians and the information they need to make informed
decisions — decisions that are appropriately personalized based on access
to a complete view of an individual’s up-to-date data.

Microsoft is soliciting proposals from areas that include, but are not
limited to, the following:

— TRACK 1: Primary Prevention Applications
Proposals targeting primary prevention could help people and caregivers
create and maintain strategies that prevent or delay onset of disease
by reinforcing healthy lifestyle factors and addressing modifiable risk
factors such as hypertension and weight.

— TRACK 2: Secondary Prevention Applications
The identification of major modifiable risk factors (such as
dyslipidemia, hypertension, smoking, obesity and inactivity) is a
prerequisite to the implementation of preventative interventions –
known as secondary prevention. Proposals in this category could help
people and their caregivers measure things such as blood pressure,
lipid profile components (LDL and HDL cholesterol and triglycerides),
diet and nutrition, weight, smoking, and activity level to create the
optimal plan to prevent or delay morbidity and acute care.

— TRACK 3: Acute Care Applications
Certain conditions require immediate diagnosis and treatment, whether
at the doctor’s office or in an urgent care setting. Proposals
targeting acute care scenarios might track progress, improve
communication and share data between the silos in the healthcare
system, providing caregivers with a longitudinal view of a patient’s
health history that ultimately may lead to superior outcomes.

— TRACK 4: Juvenile Disease Management Applications
Health conditions in children often require specialized detection,
diagnosis and treatment. Parents typically become eager partners in the
plan of care, and seek information specifically related to their
child’s condition. Proposals focusing on juvenile disease management
might provide age- appropriate tools to help children, parents and
caregivers understand and manage their conditions.

— TRACK 5: Women’s Health Management Applications
Women’s health issues can be complex and are often influenced by
biopsychosocial and environmental factors. Proposals targeting this
track might choose to create online tools or services that help manage
health within the context of lifestyle and family.

— TRACK 6: Community and Social Health Applications
Patients and caregivers dealing with illness or people interested in
wellness are increasingly sharing information and support with each
other through various Web-based social applications. Proposals
targeting this category might include applications for health in areas
such as collaboration, communication and the use of social
relationships to improve care.
Proposals will be evaluated on their potential to significantly advance
the state of health in one or more areas of focus and demonstrate the
potential for expansion into a large-scale program. The total fund pool is
$3 million, with a maximum of $500,000 awarded for any individual proposal.
All proposals will be reviewed by a panel of healthcare industry leaders,
chosen by the Microsoft Health Solutions Group. Eligible organizations must
be either an accredited degree-granting college or university with
nonprofit status and awarding degrees at the baccalaureate level or above,
or a research or health institution with nonprofit status. Private-sector
organizations may partner with these institutions and qualify for the
grant. All qualifying organizations must be based in the United States.
Proposals will be accepted from Feb. 25 through May 9, 2008. Notification
of the grant winners will be made July 1, 2008.

Proposals must make use of the Microsoft HealthVault platform, a free
Web- based platform designed to put people in control of their health data,
and leverage HealthVault Search to reinforce the project’s value through
contextual information and education. Use of non-Microsoft applications on
Windows, cross-platform development, and interoperability with other
operating systems and applications are all encouraged. The RFP is available
at http://healthvault.com/fund. The HealthVault software development kit
and further guidance on how to develop HealthVault applications can be
found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/healthvault.

Commitment to Interoperability to Push Industry Innovation Forward

The fund’s push for industry innovation builds on Microsoft’s recent
announcement that the company will release HealthVault XML interfaces under
the Microsoft Open Specification Promise (OSP). The OSP is a simple and
clear way to help developers and solution providers working with commercial
or open source software to implement specifications through a simplified
method of sharing of technical assets, while also recognizing the
legitimacy of intellectual property.

Further reinforcing the company’s commitment to open interoperability,
Microsoft is hosting a HealthVault community open source project — an
implementation of the HealthVault API wrapper for the Java development
environment — on Microsoft CodePlex, Microsoft’s open source project
hosting Web site. This will be the first of many projects designed to make
it easier for developers and solution providers to use the language and
framework of their choice to deliver HealthVault-compatible applications.

These two developments underscore the ongoing commitment of Microsoft’s
Health Solutions Group to foster a productive environment for developers,
unleashing the potential of the HealthVault platform to transform consumer
health. Additional information on the group’s commitment to
interoperability can be found at http://www.healthvault.com/HealthVaultSDK.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
- Via PressRoom 2.0 [ http://pressroom2.com/ ] [Inbox MM] [PR NEWSWIRE]

Written by TechShowWIRE.com · Filed Under Mobile Computing 

Comments

Got something to say?





Bottom

Copyright © 2008 TechShowWire (beta) · A Momentimedia publication
A MomentiMedia Project