Microsoft has just announced the general availability of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, which was showcased back in May earlier this year. The Cloud for Healthcare is largely one of its kind solution present in the industry as of now. It is an indicator of the tech industry’s growing focus on healthcare business amid the current scenario.
Microsoft stated that its Cloud for Healthcare will combine the capabilities of Microsoft 365, Dynamics, Power Platform, and Azure, allowing access to data analysis across applications using a standard data model. Other than finance, healthcare has been the other major industry lagging in adoption of cloud services.
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Talking about the launch of the new service, Microsoft’s official blog stated, “Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare brings together trusted capabilities to customers and partners that enhance patient engagement, empower health team collaboration, and improve clinical and operational insights. It makes it faster and easier to provide more efficient care and helps to ensure the end-to-end security, compliance, and interoperability of health data.”
Cloud for Healthcare utilizes Azure API for FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), which comes with a managed PaaS offering. Users can transform their data to FHIR to leverage health record system or even research databases, making it easier to work with healthcare data in the cloud. Notably, Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare works with both — structured or unstructured data.
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Microsoft is also offering its Health Bot Service with the launch. The Health Bot service is essentially an AI-powered Azure service that makes it easier to create self-service services and virtual health assistants to reduce the manual effort associated with these facilities. The Health Bot uses healthcare AI services from industry best sources to bring live-chat and telehealth services to action, as and when required.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare also comes with proposed use-cases of remote patient monitoring. Microsoft also stated that Azure IoT Connector for FHIR could enable institutions to use remotely-generated data for closely tracking patient health status, monitoring patient adherence to treatment plans, and providing personalized care. The Cloud for Healthcare also provides capabilities to access and collaborate on healthcare records, which can be immensely beneficial for patients and healthcare industry.
Lastly, Microsoft also announced Text Analytics for Health, which is currently under preview. This AI-powered service can enable institutions to extract insights from unstructured medical data, something that has been lacking in the industry for a long time. Microsoft also stated that the company is looking forward to providing solutions in precision medicine via Cloud for Healthcare in the future.
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