Top US Children’s Hospital Embraces Microsoft Amalga and HealthVault

Cook Children’s, one of the top children’s hospitals in the US according to US NEWS & World Report, will be embracing Microsoft Amalga and HealthVault in order to improve care and cut back costs. Microsoft pointed out that Cook Children’s is just the latest medical organization to adopt its technologies for the healthcare system. Aiming to boost the level of pediatric care, the children’s hospital will first embrace Microsoft Amalga Unified Intelligence System (UIS) 2009. Amalga is designed to centralize patient data from disparate storage systems and make it available to the organization's caregivers independent of location.

“Advanced pediatric care initiatives such as the Center for Innovation in Community Health demonstrate why Cook Children’s is a great partner for Microsoft,” explained Steve Shihadeh, vice president, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. “Particularly when dealing with children, it is critical that all family members and caregivers have access to information, because the patients may not be able to advocate for themselves. Cook Children’s understands that improving health requires new thinking, and using Amalga to coordinate care across phone, e-mail, physician offices, hospitals and the home will bring these futuristic ideas to life.”

While it plans to initially offer all physicians in its health system access to patient data via Amalga, Cook Children’s will also centralize administrative data, in an effort to increase hospital management efficiency. Using Amalga, the children’s hospital will also feed healthcare data into the Cook Children’s Center for Innovation in Community Health, a clinic designed to use phones and e-mail in order to reach patients. HealthVault will also be involved in the evolution of Cook Children’s system, connection with Amalga UIS. The purpose is to make all pediatric data available to patients even after they move onward from Cook Children’s system.

“Amalga will support our clinicians and administrators to pursue the best possible care for every child in our region,” added Rick Merrill, president and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System. “As our patient base continues to grow and the healthcare industry becomes more complex, Amalga has the scalability to grow with us well into the future.”