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Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft has entered into an online health record partnership with Oakland, California-based Kaiser Permanente, the biggest health-maintenance organization in the United States, that will see Kaiser's existing personal Web-based health record system connected with Microsoft's HealthVault program, the companies announced Monday. Six-Month Pilot Program To Expand After November Despite concern among some consumers that placing personal health records online could lead  to security or privacy failures exposing sensitive medical records, Microsoft and Kaiser joined a growing number of organizations betting that patients will set aside such concerns in exchange for easier access to their medical history. The partnership announced Monday will begin with a six-month pilot program offered to Kaiser's 156,000 employees, that could after November extend to its 8.7 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia if successful, Microsoft and Kaiser said in a statement. "Providing new ways to manage their health online is one more way we can engage consumers in their care," said Kaiser vice president of online services Anna-Lisa Silvestre. "We believe that Microsoft HealthVault will be a valuable supplement to our expanding set of online features." The Push Towards Patient-Managed Medical Records Microsoft launched HealthVault in October 2007 as "a free Web-based platform designed to put people in control of their health data," and the service allows patients to share their medical information with a variety of Web sites. By entering into a partnership with Microsoft, Kaiser is seen as further embracing the push toward patient-managed medical records, and expands on its popular existing Web-based internal health record system that already allows patients to order prescription drugs online, contact doctors using e-mail, and to make appointments. Kaiser's My Health Manager system has seen its usage double each of the past few years, with about 2.25 million of the HMO's members using it so far, according to Silvestre. "Connecting My Health Manager to the HealthVault platform will allow users to combine personal health information from Kaiser Permanente and a wide range of health and wellness management applications and devices such as blood pressure monitors," Microsoft said Monday. Microsoft Looks To Fill Trusted Provider Role Peter Neupert, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group said his firm's decision to partner with Kaiser is part of a push towards better health care through technology. "We’re very pleased to work with Kaiser to deliver innovative online health services focused on improving the quality of care and the health and wellness of individuals and families," Neupert said in the Monday partnership announcement. "As the universe of online health applications continues to grow, people will learn how technology can empower them and their trusted providers to make the most informed decisions about their health and care," he added. In an industry controlled by many regulations intended to safeguard patients, the partnership between Kaiser and the world's largest software maker joins similar efforts taking place by other companies such as Internet search giant Google, which launched its Google Health service in February, and Revolution Health Group LLC. Google has partnered with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic, among others, while Microsoft has formed online health record alliances with New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Mayo Clinic. Each of these services claims adequate safeguards have been put in place to prevent the sort of unauthorized information disclosures, either through the efforts of criminals or through inadequate security, that have happened on the Web with sensitive banking and government information in the past. Competing Document Formats Microsoft's HealthVault allows patients to choose which information they wish to transfer from their medical provider to their online health record - information such as test results, immunization records and prescription records - that is then available for viewing from any computer or mobile device with Internet access, Microsoft said. The partnership is a big one for Kaiser, even though it has had various forms of online access dating back to the mid-1990s, when it began allowing its members to consult nurses regarding certain services. "This is a big step for us, and our first partnership with a consumer health record supplier," Silvestre said in a recent New York Times report. The online health initiatives from Microsoft and Google each use different Web-based data storage formats, with Microsoft using the Continuity of Care Document, or CCD, format and Google the similar Continuity of Care Record, or CCR. Kaiser's decision to choose Microsoft instead of Google for an online medical records partner was due partly to its history using the same CCD format the Microsoft initiative uses, Silvestre said. Looking to avoid incompatibility issues, both Microsoft and Google have expressed their support for both formats. Microsoft Health Record Effort Adds Kaiser To Online HealthVault Microsoft uses other industry standards for HealthVault, it said Monday. "HealthVault automatically imports and exports using standards that are meaningful in the healthcare industry, such as WC3 eXtensible Markup  Language (XML), HL7 Continuity of Care Document (CCD), ASTM Continuity of Care Record (CCR.), Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) and Common Connectivity Device," Microsoft said. The move is likely to face skepticism from some consumers, such as one Kaiser member writing Monday on the online discussion forums operated by WebmasterWorld, a community of webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) professionals founded by chief executive Brett Tabke. The member, using the handle "travelin cat," questioned the Microsoft move. "Hopefully this will be an opt-in only program. That last thing I want is Microsoft or anybody else having my medical records," the WebmasterWorld member wrote. Both Microsoft and the overall online medical record movement stand to gain from the partnership announced Monday, which some analysts saw as significant due to Kaiser Permanente's history of successful adoption of computing technologies as well its position as the largest HMO in the U.S. Related Links:
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