HOW MICROSOFT IS TRANSFORMING CANADA’S HEALTHCARE
HOW MICROSOFT IS TRANSFORMING CANADA’S HEALTHCARE It is no exaggeration to say that Microsoft has changed the world, as it has transformed nearly every part of people’s working and home lives after all, around a fifth of the world’s population use Microsoft products on a daily basis. Next, the IT giant is set to revolutionise healthcare.
I
t is no exaggeration to say that Microsoft has changed the world, as it
patient care and the operations in the hospital.” As well as shifting from systems of record to systems of insight, Jones explains they are
has transformed nearly every part
moving towards systems of engagement, making
of people’s working and home lives
it possible for patients to interact with healthcare
- after all, around a fifth of the world’s
providers in new ways. Patient engagement is
population uses Microsoft products
one of the four pillars of Microsoft’s model to
on a daily basis. Next, the IT giant is
transform the country’s healthcare system,
set to revolutionize healthcare.
alongside empowering care teams, optimizing
The healthcare system faces
operations and transforming the continuum for
some tough challenges. Wait times
better patient care.
are lengthy, whether in the
04
emergency room, referral to a
PATIENT ENGAGEMENT
specialist, or making appointments
Now that it’s possible to book everything from a
to see a doctor, and processes can
taxi to a grocery shop via a touchscreen, it makes
generally be slow-moving.
sense for patients to want healthcare to be just as
Meanwhile healthcare IT has traditionally been focused on
accessible. New technology that enables care teams to
hospital-based Electronic Health
monitor patients remotely is of huge benefit to
Records (EHR), but part of
people with chronic conditions, as it cuts down
Microsoft’s digital vision is to move
on wait times for appointments, and means
beyond this and onto more efficient
those with limited mobility, such as the elderly,
processes. Peter Jones, Micro-
don’t need assistance with travelling to appoint-
soft’s Industry Lead in Healthcare
ments.
for Canada, explains: “Traditionally we’ve spent a lot of
The eVisit, developed in conjunction with telemedicine specialists Novari Health, makes it
money and resources on digitizing
possible for patients to schedule virtual consulta-
healthcare records. We are now
tions with doctors. It’s as simple as clicking on a
focused more on systems of insight
meeting request in an email to carry out a virtual
that will enable us to access data
appointment from the comfort of the patients’
and make better decisions on
home. “You can get access to a member of your
05
“WE ARE NOW FOCUSED MORE ON SYSTEMS OF INSIGHT THAT WILL ENABLE US TO ACCESS DATA AND MAKE BETTER DECISIONS ON PATIENT CARE AND THE OPERATIONS IN THE HOSPITAL”
— Peter Jones, Microsoft’s Industry Lead in Healthcare for Canada
Optimize Healthcare Facility Performance
PetalMD has created a unique Web platform that reduces operating costs and improves patient satisfaction. Designed for hospital managers and physicians, it allows you to: Hospital Dashboard
Analytics Dashboard
Consolidate schedules and on-call lists, updated in real-time.
Visualize and monitor hospital performance.
Physician Schedule Management
Artificial Intelligence
Automate physician schedule management and simplify shift exchanges.
Optimize time and resource allocation through the use of powerful algorithms.
Patient Booking
Secure Messaging
Synchronize appointment booking channels and facilitate patient access to healthcare.
Ensure communication and document exchange confidentiality.
Used by 37,000 physicians
•
Deployed in 5 countries
For more information, visit www.petalmd.com or call a specialized advisor at 1-888-949-8601.
•
Adopted by 150 hospitals
care team including doctors and
organically. “For an industry that prides itself on
nurses,” Jones explains.
being evidence-based, health does a poor job at using the most recent and relevant evidence,
EMPOWERING CARE TEAMS
their own data. We see analytics as a continuum
There are better ways to help
spanning retrospective reporting, real-time
clinicians communicate, collabo-
dashboarding, predictive analytics, and even
rate, team and learn. The Office 365
prescriptive decision-making using cognitive
platform allows members of the
services and machine learning. Even relatively
care team to communicate and
basic initiatives like patient journey-boards and
collaborate on better patient care.
KPI dashboards can have a huge impact on
“If you look at how we’re moving beyond EHR, one of the biggest challenges has been communica-
baselining performance, identifying bottlenecks and streamlining operations.” “We see that effective use of data analytics as
tion with care teams” Jones says. “A
the only proper way of achieving population
lot are overworked and struggling to
health, whether it’s management of chronic
produce, but putting the communi-
disease to prevent unnecessary re-admissions,
cation and collaboration tools in
or supporting patients to manage their care plan,
place has allowed them to become
timely and accurate information is key.”
more efficient and more effective in their job.”
“We’re seeing a lot of our partners build cloud-based solutions that are addressing these challenges, and are easily adopted” he adds.
OPTIMIZING OPERATIONS
One of these partners is Oculys, who have been
Health is data rich and information
able to show significant savings for hospitals by
poor. Jones goes on to say that the
using data analytics to predict emergency room
data collected in clinical systems is
wait times and monitor patient flow and bad
generally for operational, communi-
management. “If you can track it you can manage
cation or medical purposes, most
it more effectively” Jones says.
systems do not store communications in a way that makes analytics
TRANSFORMING THE CONTINUUM
easy, and an enterprise-wide
Some of the most exciting models of care
system view doesn’t emerge
leverage cloud computing. This is currently the w w w. m i c r o s o f t . c o m /e n - c a
07
08
primary focus for Microsoft. Once viewed with
priority. Part of that involves making
scepticism by the health industry due to
sure it is secure, and Microsoft
perceived security or control limitations, the
invests over a billion dollars annually
cloud is now undeniably being embraced by
to that end. Just as important
health organizations around the world. Gartner
though is making sure that the cloud
predicts that within this decade organizations will
can be used compliantly, so
be going to the cloud precisely because it is more
Microsoft has invested in many
secure than the on premises counterpart. Part of
industry certifications like HIPAA
this momentum is driven by cost efficiencies and
through a Business Associates
outsourcing, but there is another motivator that is
Agreement, HITECH, and Fed-
becoming increasingly apparent – some
RAMP. Keeping information private,
capabilities are only possible in the cloud.
being transparent about datacentre
“The cloud is essentially a global supercom-
operations, and allowing users the
puter, that you can access on demand and pay
controls to manage their own data
only for what you use. You get all the benefits, yet
round out the trust story.
the cost is spread across all the users. Kind of like timeshare.� The virtually unlimited storage pool makes
LOOKING AHEAD The seemingly limitless capacity of
medical imaging storage cost effective, or any
the cloud is advantageous for
other big data scenario for that matter. The
initiatives such as genomic
incredible processing power makes genomic
sequencing, a field that is greatly
sequencing feasible. Machine learning and
expanding, and one that includes
artificial intelligence are most practical in the
researchers investigating causes
cloud. Aggregations of software as a service
and early detection of serious
providers, like an enterprise app store, allow
conditions such as cancer. It is an
organizations to discover, trial and deploy new
area Microsoft is doing a significant
applications with a minimum of risk and hassle.
amount of work in, and one that
There is potential of the cloud to defragment all
requires a tremendous amount of
the data silos that frustrate holistic health
storage given that a single human
information management.
genome takes up at least 100
Making cloud computing trustworthy is a key
gigabytes of space.
$
+
“STORAGE COSTS FOR CLOUD COMPUTING ARE THE LOWEST WE CAN SEE” — Peter Jones, Microsoft’s Industry Lead in Healthcare for Canada
w w w. m i c r o s o f t . c o m /e n - c a
09
“THE CLOUD IS ESSENTIALLY A GLOBAL SUPERCOMPUTER, THAT YOU CAN ACCESS ON DEMAND AND PAY ONLY FOR WHAT YOU USE” 10
— Peter Jones, Microsoft’s Industry Lead in Healthcare for Canada
“Storage costs for cloud computing are the
the better the research, so we’re
lowest we can see, and the number of genomes
starting to see researchers coming
we will need to sequence in the future is going to
together with genomic data sharing
put a huge demand on a lot of the infrastructure
platforms that allow them to get
that exists on premise today” Jones explains.
access to larger data sets.”
“The other benefit is allowing researchers to share their data. The larger the genomic data set
One of the organizations that has moved its genomic data to the cloud
11
is BC Cancer, a government-run agency that
However with these innovations in
conducts research and operates patient
telemedicine, cloud solutions and
treatment centers.
operational data, more and more
The healthcare industry has historically been risk averse, as Jones says, with providers
are joining the digital revolution to reap its benefits.
generally waiting for others to adopt new processes before making the move themselves. w w w. m i c r o s o f t . c o m /e n - c a
1950 Meadowvale Blvd. Mississauga, ON. L5N 8L9 T 1-905-568-0434 www.microsoft.com/en-ca