SEATTLE – Microsoft’s latest foray into the healthcare field comes with a caveat: Money matters.
That’s the word from Bill Crounse, Microsoft’s worldwide health director, who’s beating the drum these days for a concept called Microsoft Unified Communications. It’s not necessarily a new product, but a philosophy that seeks to link all aspects of the healthcare chain through a variety of video and audio portals, ranging from the PC to the Smartphone. The concept ranges from a group of doctors in different parts of the world using videoconferencing tools to a patient communicating vital statistics to his or her doctor while at home, or on the road, or even in the supermarket.
More importantly, Crounse says, these linkages will allow healthcare providers and patients to explore how to best pay for services.
“The conversation will soon no longer be about the technology,” he says. “The truer issue now is creative models for reimbursement.”
“We need to focus on commoditization,” he says, in envisioning a time when technology is leveraged to reduce cost. “Within five years, it will not be possible to practice medicine in the United States and get paid for it without being electronic.”
Microsoft has been quietly bolstering its healthcare business with the additions of new companies (Azyxxi and Medstory) and new contracts with hospitals and physician groups for its Office, Office Communicator and Office Live Meeting products. Crounse, who joined Microsoft five years ago, says the company “has spent a lot of time studying the market.”
Now, he says, it’s time to act.
“Joining a videoconference or a live meeting is now done by a click of the button,” he says of the technology that has advanced to a point that it’s now available in most homes. “A Web-cam today is a $30 or $60 item. … Mobility is obviously a crucial factor in all of this.”