High on Microsoft solutions in healthcare

I'm back from New York City where I had an opportunity to meet with customers and provide a keynote at our Healthcare Executive Forum event at the Reuter's Building in Times Square.  My visit to New York was all the more exciting (if that is the word to use) because the hotel where I stayed had a small fire in the middle of the night.  The alarm forced an evacuation to the lobby from my room on the 50th floor.  I thought of my firefighter father who always advised not to stay above the 10th floor because rescuers can't reach you by ladder.  I didn't get much sleep, but I did get to observe how dozens of New York's finest responded to what could have been a very bad situation. 

Speaking with me in New York were customer representatives from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Atlantic Health.  Pat Skarulis, Sloan-Kettering's VP and CIO, and Dr. Rich Mansour from Microsoft partner Eclipsys, provided a compelling presentation on MSKCC's IT environment.  Virtually 100 percent of physician orders are done electronically.  Sloan-Kettering is filmless and chartless.  Their unified patient record reduces errors, reduces turnaround time, increases security and compliance, and eliminates lost "charts".  They have also developed custom electronic order sets for all chemotherapy regimens, vastly improving workflow and increasing chemotherapy safety.

Jacque Brodt-Suggs, Director of Application Support at Atlantic Health, and a representative from Microsoft partner Quilogy, presented information on Atlantic's balanced scorecard application.  After looking at scorecard applications on the market they decided that none of them really met Atlantic's criteria for customization and ease-of-use.  Furthermore, when they learned from Microsoft that they already owned most of what they would need to leverage a portal solution offered by Quilogy, the decision was a no-brainer.  According to Ms. Brodt-Suggs, the solution simplifies data collected and interfaced from 90 disparate systems, creates consistent definitions for performance measurement, and gives care teams first time access to metrics that help them understand how their work can support Atlantic's strategic goals.  Oh, and did I mention this solution saved them a ton of money?

What both customers had in common was technology from Microsoft.  That's the part of the story I really want to share.  That's what gets me so excited.  That's why I keep getting on airplanes to spread the word, and sometimes staying on top floors of hotels......... even when I know better.

If you would like more information, please visit our Microsoft Healthcare web site.

See you at HIMSS in New Orleans!

Bill Crounse, MD        Healthcare Industry Director            Microsoft