14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft HealthVault has crossed the pond and is now available in the United Kingdom (www.healthvault.co.uk). Thus, the UK becomes the second European market whose users have access to the Redmond company’s Cloud-based health-data repository after Germany. At the start of this year, Microsoft licensed Microsoft HealthVault to Siemens AG (Siemens IT Solutions and Services division). After three years since its 2007 debut, HealthVault is available to people in the UK that wish to kick the level of control they have over medical and wellness information to the next level.
First off, Microsoft HealthVault is designed to act as a central repository for medical data in the Cloud. The solution can store a variety of pieces of information from diet and workout details to blood pressure particulars, which users can opt to enter manually. At the same time, manufacturers of medical equipment can embrace HealthVault and produce a range of compatible devices that are capable of automatically uploading patient data into the service.
“According to research, 13% of the UK population are actively interested and engaged in looking after their ‘wellness’ – i.e. they do things such as exercise regularly, look after their diet, monitor their weight, take their temperature and blood pressure. Many of these people record this data in a variety of places – from apps on their phones to scraps of paper,” John Coulthard, senior director healthcare and life sciences, revealed.
Of course, it is important to note that HealthVault can also be leveraged by medical organizations in order to allow both doctors and patients access to the data stored at any time, and from virtually any location. In addition, HealthVault is also a platform, which means that Microsoft is inviting developers to build applications that play nice with the service. In partnership with MSN and Nuffield Health, Microsoft is already providing such an app, My Health Info.
“My Health Info is the first in - what we expect will be - a long line of applications developed for the HealthVault platform. The widgets that Nuffield Health has built for the My Health Info application (and the tremendous potential for further applications and services to be developed on the platform) are what really excite me about HealthVault. Now, we don’t know what specific applications or widgets will be developed in the future – that’s the beauty of a model based on social innovation and an open platform – but just imagine the positive impact a citizen-centric ‘wellness’ infrastructure could have on our nation’s health,” Coulthard added.