Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare: 2022 Update

• Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, the first Microsoft “industry cloud,” provides new patient data-consolidation features based on the FHIR standard.
• This consolidated data can be surfaced in a unified portal, potentially improving efficiency and patient privacy and safety.
• Other new features leverage Teams and other services to enable patient “virtual visits.”
• Microsoft is leveraging key industry partners, such as Epic and Cerner, to customize and integrate the Cloud for Healthcare with existing systems.
   

Introduction to Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare

Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare aims to consolidate disparate sources of data, improving experiences for clinicians and patients and providing portals where they can interact. This report is one of a series focusing on Microsoft’s industry clouds; for an introduction to industry clouds, see “Industry Clouds 2022 Update: Introduction”.

 

Microsoft continues to invest in the Cloud for Healthcare, the first and most mature of its industry clouds. As with the other industry clouds, Healthcare leverages existing Microsoft cloud services, including Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Azure, which are licensed and priced separately. Its original release in 2020 provided several applications supporting scheduling of patient visits; building care plans; and a patient portal, built on Dynamics 365 and Power Apps. In addition, this release supported the Azure API for FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, a standard, XML-based healthcare data format, one of the Health Level 7 [HL7] standards). FHIR support and connectors for other Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, including Cerner and Epic, enabled Cloud for Healthcare to provide a hub architecture to consolidate health records across systems.