Health Vault: Hey, Google, Get With the Microsoft Medical Program!
“The Microsoft HealthVault partner team is handling hundreds of projects representing every corner of the healthcare ecosystem.” Who says? Sean Nolan, chief architect.
I asked the HealthVault team last month: Is Microsoft bracing for a Google Health frontal assualt? NO! Was the resounding response! And rightly so, apparently.
It is no wonder that the Googley man who had visions of changing the entire U.S. healthcare system under the Google brand is long gone from Google: Adam Bosworth engaged in Barack Obama worthy style rhetoric, but like the Democratic presidential frontrunner, was short on concrete ”programs.”
“Google ventures into health records biz,” the Associated Press optimistically headlines today. What really is going on in Google’s Health world is decidedly less ambitious, though. Over a short term period, and with a small number of users, it is testing an apparently rudimentary application allowing Google to directly import a few fields of patient data into its own seemingly rudimentary Google.com consumer medical data collection form, thanks to the cooperation of some adventuresome patients at the Cleveland Clinic.
Direct competitor Microsoft, on the other hand, is making decidely concrete progress in its HealthVault initiative. I asked Microsoft: Has Health Vault achieved a meaningful head start over Google? “This isn’t a race with Google, it’s about Microsoft delivering on its vision and working with partners,” was the cordial Microsoft response.
Moreover, Microsoft even welcomes Google as a partner! The HealthVault team told me last month:
Transforming healthcare is an incredibly complex challenge – one which no single organization can solve alone. As Microsoft tackles the challenge of merging healthcare with the internet, we are working with dozens of other innovative organizations. We are excited about Google and others joining this space and making their offerings Health Vault compatible.
Microsoft is now announcing concrete programs enabling all to “join this space,” via HealthVault compatible offerings:
- Microsoft will make the complete HealthVault XML interface protocol specification public.
- With this information, developers will be able to reimplement the HealthVault service and run their own versions of the system.
- Microsoft will irrevocably promise that we will not make patent claims against you for implementing the specification, subject to the terms of the OSP.
What are the expectations of Microsoft HealthVault?:
Will others take us up on this promise? We hope so, we are working hard to help partners build HealthVault applications, and it just makes sense for others who want to offer consumer-controlled health records to start from an established, accepted starting point and leverage all that functionality. For those that take a different path, we will do our best to make sure that consumers can move data back and forth.
This is about putting consumers in control and making a real difference in healthcare. We believe strongly that we will all benefit as consumer-centric healthcare becomes a reality. Someday I’m sure we’ll be competing for market share with other players, but for the next few years anything that solidifies the space is great for everybody.
Will Google be open to Microsoft HealthVault’s openness? Unlikely.
MORE: Microsoft Seeks Healthy Relationship with Google: Health Vault INTERVIEW and Google vs. Microsoft: The REAL Health Platform War Story
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