The company also used the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference in the US to announce its acquisition of Medstory, a Californian software firm that develops intelligent Web search technology specifically for health information.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said the Connected Health Framework Architecture and Design Blueprint would provide a set of tools and technologies that should help in building more interoperable systems and the movement of information across the vast heath sector.
“We've done this kind of technology framework for interoperability in a number of other industries to great benefit,” Mr Ballmer said of the Connected Health Framework. “We want to bring the power of that thinking now also here into the healthcare arena.
“I think what that will allow us to do is to create a reference architecture that serves to document best practices for integrating healthcare systems,” Mr Ballmer said.
While data volumes across all industries had seen continuing explosive growth, Mr Ballmer said growth in data volumes in the health was even higher and created special needs for the industry.
The company said its Connected Health Framework would provide a real-world model for providers seeking to deploy service-oriented architecture (SOA) solutions to address increasing pressures on an overburdened and fragmented healthcare system.
In addition to the Blueprint, Microsoft is also making available the Health Connection Engine, a standards-based set of Web services that enable health organizations to quickly deploy solutions to improve interoperability, clinical collaboration and decision-making tools.
Meanwhile, the company said its Medstory acquisition represented a strategic move in the consumer health search arena “and signals a long term commitment toward the development of a broader consumer health strategy.”
The Medstory intellectual property and employees would join Microsoft’s recently-formed Health Solutions Group. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Microsoft’s corporate vice-president for health strategy Peter Neupert said the company had been “impressed with the ability of Medstory’s unique technology to organise and surface the most relevant online health content, which empowers consumers who are trying to find the right information about an important life event.”
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