Blue Cross Blue Shield of Hawaii plans to be the first health plan to introduce the integrated online care platform to consumers.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at America's HealthInsurance Plans (AHIP) Institute 2008, American Well Inc. and Microsoft Corp.announced that they have entered into a strategic collaboration to introducean integrated consumer health solution that brings together American Well'sOnline Healthcare Marketplace and Microsoft HealthVault, Microsoft's onlineconsumer health platform. The integrated solution will allow consumers to usetheir health information to interact live, online and on-demand withphysicians from their home or office.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)
The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA), Blue Cross Blue Shield ofHawaii, plans to be the first health plan in the nation to offer theintegrated solution to all Hawaii residents. It is slated to become availableduring the upcoming open enrollment period.
'At the heart of this strategic collaboration is the understanding thatpersonal health information becomes truly meaningful when consumers andproviders can use it in the process of actual care,' said Peter Neupert,corporate vice president of the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft.
Microsoft's HealthVault platform allows people to collect, store andmanage personal health information and share it with physicians, familymembers and other trusted third parties. Consumers can store information frommultiple sources including provider and hospital record systems, homemonitoring devices, and patient entries. American Well's Online HealthcareMarketplace enables live communication between a consumer and healthcareprovider. By adding HealthVault, consumers would be able to collect andprovide health information for advised, coordinated care.
'This innovative solution promises to advance both the quality of care andquality of service HMSA brings to our members and our community,' said MichaelGold, chief operating officer of HMSA.
'Convenient, immediate and affordable online care in people's homes isbecoming a reality in 2008,' said Ido Schoenberg, M.D., chief executiveofficer of American Well. 'With HealthVault, we can offer better data-enrichedcommunication, device connectivity, access and portability to health planmembers and nonmembers.'
The integrated solution will allow consumers to use their healthinformation from HealthVault to drive online consultations with providers onthe American Well system. In Hawaii, credentialed physicians who are alreadypart of the HMSA network will be able to make themselves available, at theirdiscretion, for online and phone consultations with plan members as well asother consumers. This on-demand interaction between consumers and providerswill be under advisement of consumers' care coordinator, namely their primarycare physician.
About American Well
American Well has created a new healthcare marketplace where consumers andphysicians can come together online to acquire and provide convenient andimmediate healthcare services.
American Well is committed to supporting health plans in meeting consumerand employer demand for affordable, efficient and immediate access to qualitycare. For more information, please visit http://www.americanwell.com.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader insoftware, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize theirfull potential.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
