There have been many wars among technology stalwarts. Apple, IBM and Microsoft have fought operating system battles, skirmishes on the database front and, of course, the continuing browser wars, to name just a few. Now the technology giants are arming themselves for combat in the mobile health realm.
The latest: Microsoft has lined up two partners to combine mHealth technologies and begin testing them immediately.
Team Redmond first aligned with wireless provider TracFone to focus on underserved and high-risk patient populations; the two companies then teamed up with Miami-based Health Choice Network to launch a pilot program aimed at examining how access to mobile technology affects patient disease-management and outcomes.
Microsoft’s triptych comes on the heels of similar tactics from Apple, which first joined with EHR maker Epic and the Mayo Clinic to work on the forthcoming HealthKit, and then followed that with a surprise announcement under which it will work with IBM to develop industry-specific Mobile First for iOS platforms and mHealth apps and to resell iPads and iPhones.
Microsoft’s pilot
Through the pilot project, HCN will provide smartphones to some 100 patients enrolled in the Care Management Medical Home Center diabetes pilot, complete with short message service abilities and Microsoft's HIPAA-compliant e-mail and messaging communications. Patients will have the ability to access Microsoft's HealthVault, the company's Web-based platform that allows patients to store their protected health information and stay on top of medication adherence.
The platform, officials said, will also allow patients to receive appointment reminders and keep track of glucose levels.
[Q&A: How IBM and Apple expect hospitals to use their mobile platform.]
With nearly 26 million Americans living with diabetes — and racking up $245 billion in costs each year — many stakeholders have been looking for innovative ways to help those individuals better keep tabs on their condition. With its new mobile health project, Microsoft is the latest company to offer a diabetes management platform.
This is not the only healthcare-related project Microsoft has launched, officials noted.
"Microsoft is in the process of developing additional pilot projects, but (this) first one is scheduled to launch by the end of the year,” said Steve Aylward, general manager of solutions and strategy for U.S. Health and Life Sciences at Microsoft, in an e-mailed statement.
Rivals wrangling
Apple, for its part, has given precious little detail about what HealthKit will ultimately look like, though many are expecting a data play, in which HealthKit is essentially an information hub connecting a range of apps and devices with which patients generate data.
IBM and Apple already have pilots underway at MD Anderson and Sloan Kettering, testing the ways physicians can use Apple devices and Siri to query IBM’s Watson for information and recommendations about cancer treatments.
What’s more, the reports of recent discussions with EHR vendor Allscripts, as well as the Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins, are adding to the widespread speculation that when Apple unveils its next iPhone in early September, perhaps HealthKit will be part of that rollout.
The road ahead
With the usual pre-announcement Apple rumors swirling, Microsoft kicking off a pilot and promising others and IBM girding to sell its mobile platform and health apps with Apple devices, exactly where these vendors are going is not yet crystal clear, but it is obvious that they’re moving deeper into mHealth.
Many observers and insiders are declaring the tech giants’ presence a victory for doctors, patients and their families and caregivers — not to mention for mHealth itself.
In a rather unusual move, an official from the Department of Health and Human Services appeared in Microsoft’s announcement, quoted in the company’s marketing materials saying that tapping into existing and emerging technologies can help improve patient care outcomes and reduce overall costs.
"Combining the power of a smartphone with a personal health record platform that brings disparate data together in a secure environment is an important step toward the goal of providing better patient engagement and more mobile healthcare in the U.S.,” HHS director of health information exchange policy and interoperability Lee Stevens is quoted as saying in Microsoft’s release.
Stevens could have been speaking of many mHealth vendors with that sentiment.
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