BIDMC Joins Forces with Microsoft HealthVault
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is expanding options for users of its secure PatientSite portal by joining forces with Microsoft HealthVault to offer a new way to safely exchange medical records and other health data.
Date: 8/26/2008
BIDMC Contact: Zineb Marchoudi
Phone: (617) 667-7305
Email: zmarchou@bidmc.harvard.edu
BOSTON – Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) is expanding options for users of its secure PatientSite portal by joining forces with Microsoft HealthVault to offer a new way to safely exchange medical records and other health data.
The affiliation follows an earlier commitment to offer a similar service through Google Health.
“We believe that patients should be the stewards of their own data,” says John Halamka, MD, BIDMC’s chief information officer. “BIDMC’s PatientSite is wonderful if all care is delivered at BIDMC. However, many patients have primary care doctors, specialists, labs, pharmacies, and non-traditional providers at multiple institutions.
“Our vision is that BIDMC patients will be able to electronically upload their diagnosis lists, medication lists and allergy lists into a HealthVault account and share that information with health care providers who currently don’t have access to PatientSite.”
PatientSite, which currently has more than 40,000 patient users and 1,000 clincians, enables patients to access their medical records online, securely email their doctors, make appointments, renew medications and request referrals. HealthVault is designed to put people in control of their health data. It helps them collect, store and share health information with family members and participating health care providers, and it provides people with a choice of third-party applications and devices to help them manage things such as fitness, diet and health.
“Known for innovation, BIDMC has long recognized the value of putting patients in control of their own health information,” said Sean Nolan, chief architect, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. “By offering access to HealthVault through PatientSite, BIDMC is giving their patients an easy way to manage and use their personal health data outside the walls of the hospital, enabling them to take a more active role in their overall health and wellness using any of the dozens of tools and devices in the HealthVault ecosystem.”
HealthVault also provides a privacy- and security-enhanced foundation on which a broad ecosystem of providers – from medical providers and health and wellness device manufacturers to health associations – can build innovative new health and wellness solutions to help put people in increased control of their and their family’s health.
“The end result will be when patients leave the BIDMC area or see a provider outside the area they can have all their medical data located in one safe place,” adds Halamka. Microsoft HealthVault can be found on the web at http://www.healthvault.com/.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and consistently ranks among the top four in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.harvard.edu.
