Healthcare has always been a focus industry for Microsoft. The company has worked hard to provide powerful, secure collaboration tools that can help physicians and other healthcare providers reach patients more conveniently. In 2020, tools like these are more relevant than ever before – so we definitely expected a healthcare-specific announcement at Microsoft Ignite 2020.
And Microsoft didn’t disappoint.
1 – A new Microsoft Teams EHR Connector is in preview
This is a first of its kind native integration that will allow healthcare stakeholders (both providers and customers) to launch a virtual patient visit directly on Teams. In the last few months, we have seen a dramatic surge in remote consultations, with doctors rating telehealth as the No.1 promising technology for 2020. Nearly 4 in 5 patients are interested in switching to a provider who can accommodate virtual visits. The new Microsoft Teams connector will make it possible to hold remote consultations without a complex setup or third-party dependencies.
Patient data is typically stored in an electronic health record (EHR) system that follows its own set of regulations and standards. Previously, the EHR integration in Microsoft Teams was powered by Redox. After this new update, physicians and patients can directly launch a telehealth session on Teams – or even consult with another provider – fetching data directly from the relevant EHR.
2 – Epic EHR is already here on Microsoft Teams
Right out of the gate, Microsoft has onboarded cloud-based EHR giant, Epic, as a partner. Epic has been around since the 1980s and caters to a massive healthcare community in the US and outside. Customers already using Epic EHR can now opt for telehealth via the Microsoft Teams platform, gaining from the native data integration. It also helps that Microsoft Teams was already certified for compliant usage in healthcare scenarios.
The partnership will also benefit Epic, with Teams scheduled to be available on Epic’s own software marketplace. On the occasion of Microsoft Ignite 2020, the company announced that the Teams app will be ready for purchase/access via the Epic Orchard later on in the year.
3 – Say hello to intelligent physician-patient conversations with Nuance DAX
Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience (DAX) is an AI-powered clinical documentation provider that supports smarter communication between physicians and patients. The company is known for its ambient clinical intelligence (ACI) technology that securely listens in on conversations to automate knowledge capturing. Nuance and Microsoft have an existing partnership, and this announcement takes it one step further.
After the update, conversations happening through Microsoft Teams will be captured securely by the Nuance DAX app, complete with AI-based contextualisation. Together, the EHR connector and thee Nuance DAX integration will enable end-to-end data fetching, digital consultations, data capturing, and analysis without having to leave the Microsoft Teams platform.
And this is just the beginning.
Microsoft plans on onboarding several other EHR providers by the end of this year, making Teams applicable for telehealth use cases across different therapy settings. As Microsoft continues to grow its partner landscape, healthcare has incredible potential and, of course, an imminent necessity.
