Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Into Healthcare With HealthVault

Apps & Software

Published: October 4, 2007 10:21 am

Microsoft (MSFT) has just made its first big move into healthcare with a new product called HealthVault.

Individual patients can upload all of their key medical records to a secure online storage area. This data can then be shared with doctors and other healthcare providers.

Redmond has already signed some big names to use the service on the healthcare provider side: American Hearth Association, the American Lung Association and New York Presbyterian Hospital.

New versions of PC applications may allow for data like blood pressure reading to be uploaded directly to the new system.

Will doctors use the new products? Probably not. Patient information is often not entirely electronic. Much of it is still kept on paper. And, doctors don’t like sensitive medical data leaving their offices.

But, it was a good idea anyway.

Douglas A. McIntyre

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