Improving the patient-caregiver experience with technology
By John Nelson, health and human services solutions architect, and Bjorn Salvesen, account executive, Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft is all about empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more-it’s part of our corporate DNA. That’s why our Microsoft CityNext Health solutions team was pleased to host a recent San Francisco event, attracting 40-plus clinical and IT executives, including medical directors, chief medical/information officers, clinicians and other healthcare leaders. With attendees representing 14 Bay Area hospitals and health organizations, there was no lack of diverse thinking and active dialogue on the topic of improving the patient-caregiver experience with technology.
A big key to the event’s success was having front-line clinical doctors drive the content, format and speakers. With five presentations and two speaker panels, the day-long event reflected a wealth of innovative thinking on how new technology solutions can optimize healthcare delivery, improve patient care and reduce system costs. Among the highlights
- Reducing High Utilization with Early Clinical Intervention and Data Analysis: Dr. Rajiv Pramanik and Dr. Sara Levin of Contra Costa County Medical focused their comments on how breaking down silos between healthcare and public health leads to better care.
- Sharing Information on our Shared Clients: Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Maria X. Martinez of the San Francisco Department of Public Health also emphasized how to deliver “whole person” care.
- Morning speakers’ panel: All of the above speakers were joined by Dr. Michael Aratow of the San Mateo County Medical Center for a question-and-answer session covering the morning’s topics and more.
- eReferrals and eConsults: A New Model for Specialty Care: The University of California San Francisco’s Dr. Delphine Tuot presented this session, emphasizing the need for collaboration by clinicians to deliver coordinated specialty services.
- Telemedicine: Dr. George Su, also from UCSF, talked about telemedicine, noting the importance of proper training and systems to effectively use the technology.
- New Wing of San Francisco General Hospital: Dr. Jenson Wong of SF General Hospital covered the innovative technology being implemented at the hospital’s new wing.
- Afternoon speakers’ panel: Drs. Tuot, Su and Wong were joined by Jeff Jorgenson of the San Francisco Department of Public Health for our closing Q&A session.
We’re thrilled by the positive feedback from both event attendees and speakers, especially since Microsoft is committed to optimizing healthcare delivery, helping people take control of their health and improving access to quality healthcare. In addition to intensely listening to our impressive speakers, we shared information about some of our newest healthcare solutions, including:
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- Microsoft HealthVault, a new service that lets you organize your health information in one place, and enables you to gather, store, use and share information and records with your healthcare providers.
- Microsoft healthier communities and citizens: Through an ecosystem of global partners and cloud, Big Data, mobile and social technologies, Microsoft CityNext partner solutions provide local governments with real-time access to medical records as well as remote monitoring of prescriptions and medication usage.
- Anywhere, anytime patient care: Through partnerships with leading healthcare providers like Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft has developed a system that connects smartphones to devices such as blood pressure and glucose meters in patients’ homes, and integrates the data with a program prescribed by a clinician.
- Increasing health productivity and collaboration: Microsoft Office applications are available on iPad, iOS and Android, and are supported for touch, pen, voice, keyboard and mouse, allowing healthcare professionals to work seamlessly using almost any device they choose.
- Microsoft Health, a cloud-based service that provides actionable insights for healthier living, based on data gathered from fitness devices, is gaining interest from many hospitals, including SF General. The goal is to reduce readmission by allowing patients and caregivers to more closely monitor health, and be alerted and take preventative action when irregular activity is detected.
It’s gratifying to continue the dialogue from our recent improving patient-caregiver experience event-and even more exciting to empower healthcare patients and professionals to do more and achieve more, using technology to its best advantage!
Have a comment or opinion on this post? Let us know @Microsoft_Gov. Or email us atongovernment@microsoft.com. You can also follow Microsoft CityNext on Twitter @MSFTCityNext.
John Nelson, health and human services solutions architect, and Bjorn Salvesen, account executive, Microsoft Corporation.
