Microsoft mobility solutions transform electronic medical record pains into productivity and patient care gains

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The ability for clinicians to seamlessly collaborate and have mobile, instant and fully functional access to everything from electronic medical records (EMRs) to EKGs is critical in today's changing world of healthcare. Monday, at the HIMSS14 Annual Conference and Exhibition, Microsoft Corp. showcased how a wide range of health organizations, including prominent partners like Epic and AirStrip, have improved care team collaboration and productivity, expanded mobility, and enhanced patient care through new Windows 8.1 devices and apps and Windows Embedded solutions. With the Windows 8.1 platform of clinical-grade devices, apps and services, including Microsoft Surface, mobile care teams can easily communicate with each other via a variety of methods, gain access to full-function EMRs from anywhere at any time, and use FDA-cleared clinician apps to deliver mobile-based care and guidance.

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"The healthcare industry is in a major period of transformation. Finding mobile solutions that can improve clinician productivity, empower patients to improve their health, and address the need to complement existing EMR systems is critical," said Michael Robinson, vice president, U.S. Health and Life Sciences, Microsoft. "The solutions and developments being announced today underscore how Microsoft technology can be used across various health settings to help clinicians practice patient-centered, team-based medicine and deliver higher-quality care to more people."

Microsoft's partners and customers unveiled an array of new enterprise solutions, apps and platforms to better integrate EMRs, improve productivity and engage patients in new ways by using a single mobile device or platform that runs all the programs and apps they need while on the move.

EMRs apps and platforms

• Epic's Hyperspace 2014 app is now compatible for mobile Windows 8 tablets and ultrabooks on Internet Explorer 10 for EpicCare 2014 IU1 (Interim Update). This new compatibility allows clinicians to run Hyperspace directly on a Windows 8 tablet so they can use the full-functionality version of the application to support physicians in inpatient and outpatient settings to manage clinical and revenue cycle workflows.
• At HIMSS, Allscripts will be demonstrating its Allscripts Wand for TouchWorks EHR, powered by Windows 8.1, which is currently in use at Resurgens Orthopaedics in Atlanta. Allscripts Wand uses all of the navigation, voice and camera capabilities of the Windows 8.1 tablet to place orders, complete clinical documentation, take clinical photos and update all aspects of the patient's chart. Because of the app's ability to run simultaneously on a desktop and a mobile device, clinicians are able to experience the best of all worlds on Windows 8.1 mobile solutions.
• UPMC and Caradigm announced the development of a mobile Windows 8.1 tablet-based platform using Surface Pro 2 devices that enables physicians to maintain patient and clinical workflow context while switching between different clinical apps at the point of care.

Patient engagement clinician productivity apps and solutions

• AirStrip's AirStrip ONE Cardiology app is a Windows Phone and Windows 8.1 mobile device cardiac care solution that recently became the first FDA-cleared clinician app for the Windows 8 platform. It allows doctors to evaluate EKGs quickly to determine if a patient suffered a heart attack and needs surgery. For the first time, the Windows 8.1 version of AirStrip ONE Cardiology makes an AirStrip app accessible on any form factor, including desktops, laptops, and wall-mounted or mobile workstations, not just mobile devices. Now, clinicians can access AirStrip ONE Cardiology for Windows from workstations in hospitals and outpatient clinics as well as from tablets and phones while outside the hospital.
• Seattle Children's Hospital specializes in meeting the unique physical, emotional and developmental needs of children from infancy through young adulthood. The hospital has purchased more than 250 Surface Pro devices and has standardized its executive team on Surface. Microsoft Surface Pro enables Seattle Children's Hospital to provide clinicians with a modern user interface while also allowing adherence to HIPAA and other strict security regulations in healthcare. Microsoft leveraged the Microsoft Application Acceleration Program (MAAP) and partnered with a business partner, VitalHub, on the development of a modern touch application. The VitalHub application, combined with Microsoft Surface Pro, allows Seattle Children's staff to view and have basic levels of simple order entry through a touch-enabled interface — improving the experience of both physician and patient.
• Aegis Living has equipped staff across its 30 senior living communities with Surface tablets to provide the highest level of resident care and the most productive medication administration to their residents. By using Surface devices, Aegis staff have eliminated paper-based medication records and manual prescription auditing, with an expected savings of more than 11,000 hours each year previously spent auditing prescription records. In addition, staff have easier access to residents' medical records and prescriptions through a Web-based app, have increased resident safety by eliminating manual data entry, and have more secure, mobile access to resident data whether they are at a resident's bedside or moving from one resident's room to another.
• Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP) is the nation's oldest community-based accrediting body, with more than 5,000 providers and 10,000 sites currently accredited and 85 field auditors continuously working to hold agencies accountable for patient care. CHAP is now using Surface Pro devices to support its new CHAP LinQ accreditation software and provide an important tool for site visitors to observe, interview and document information seamlessly. Unique Surface Pro features, such as the kickstand and digitized pen, work in conjunction with the CHAP LinQ software to enable CHAP's field auditors to capture more accurate and systematic documentation and ultimately provide the highest quality of home- and community-based care.
• Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society has implemented a Windows 8-based application on Surface devices dedicated to helping its visiting nurses provide better home-health patient care experiences for new mothers associated with the Navy-Marine Corps. The application — developed by Microsoft Consulting Services — enables visiting nurses and other mobile caregivers to meet with new mothers and their babies to assess the care they are receiving and serve as their resource and emotional support system. NMCRS's 55 visiting nurses scattered around the globe are each provided with a Surface tablet so they can use the application to access patient EMRs in near-real time, facilitate faster communication with other clinicians and physicians, and easily answer health-related questions during visits.
• Billings Clinic, a 285-bed hospital in Billings, Mont., is the first hospital to partner with Omnicell Inc. to implement remote cabinet functionality. By integrating Omnicell's automated dispensing cabinets with Windows Embedded technology and a leading EMR system, Billings Clinic can streamline medication administration processes and ensure that pharmacists deliver the right medications to patients more safely and efficiently.

Find out more about these and other Microsoft solutions by visiting the Microsoft in Health Blog and the Microsoft in Health Newsroom.

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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.