New features by Microsoft add to growing healthcare cloud computing

During Microsoft Ignite last week, the company announced a number of new features for its healthcare cloud computing provider, Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare improves patient engagement, enables team collaboration, improves clinical insights, and improves data management. Some of its new features include an AI-operated missed appointment predictor, patient journey templates for better analysis of patient trends, and the new Dataverse Healthcare API feature for better exchange of clinical data.

With healthcare cloud computing, providers and patients are able to develop a more trusting and transparent relationship. Patients and other members of the healthcare team can access lab reports, electronic health records, and prescription notes in real-time using healthcare cloud services. As a result, patient involvement and collaboration between health teams are enhanced. According to GlobalData, global spending on cloud services will reach $429.4 billion by 2024.

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Oracle founder lays out his vision to future of global healthcare

Larry Ellison, Oracle‘s founder and CTO, has outlined a grand vision for transforming healthcare access, regardless of location. At Oracle Cloud World 2022, Ellison discussed a number of initiatives his company is launching to help people worldwide, Techradar reports. “We’re going to bankrupt western civilization unless we can find a way to make healthcare cheaper,” Ellison said in his keynote speech at the event, “we’ve got to do a better job.” As a result of the pandemic, Ellison and many others changed how they view healthcare, especially in the US where finding the information patients and providers need can be challenging. “Your health records are scattered across different databases, everyone you’ve visited in your entire life,” he said, noting that providers, not patients, are being put at the center of the system – something he described as, “a fundamental problem.” “Why is there a global financial database that knows your entire credit history but not a global healthcare one?” he noted. “If you have an accident, the hospital will know your financial records but not if you’re allergic to penicillin.” “We need to automate the entire global healthcare ecosystem,” he continued. “Some of these data can be shared among nations to create a worldwide global public health system.”

Oracle adds cloud features targeted at healthcare firms

During the company’s CloudWorld conference, the Fusion Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) suite as well as its Supply Chain and Manufacturing (SCM) and Human Capital Management (HCM) suite announced healthcare-centric features, CIO reports. With an eye on meeting the financial planning, supply chain, and human resource needs of customers in the healthcare industry, Oracle on Wednesday, October 19th, announced updates to its Cloud Fusion suite. A number of company suites have been updated, including Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Human Capital Management (HCM). As indicated by its $28 billion acquisition of healthcare systems maker Cerner in June 2022, Oracle is targeting the healthcare sector as a major target. The company said it was launching planning capabilities that could help healthcare companies optimize financial and operational management by modeling scenarios, determining future demand, optimizing resources, and helping users make better financial, workforce, and patient care decisions.

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Willum Þór: The question remains if our healthcare system is sustainable

On January 1st, Iceland took over the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. This intergovernmental organisation plays an important role in promoting innovations, health data integration, and cooperation between all major stakeholders in the Nordic healthcare. The Icelandic Health Minister elaborates on his vision to future health in the Nordic region, the Nordic strengths, Iceland’s plans for the Presidency with regards to health innovations, and the coming collaboration with Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

CIFS ran an all-day session at the Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense

Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies ran an all-day session at the annual Week of Health and Innovation (WHINN) in Odense, Denmark. CIFS’ program attracted over 40 experts from health and data organisations. We presented strategic foresight and futures studies in the health sector, concepts that are used to reimagine the future of the health sector, such as the Humanome and decentralised clinical trials. Also, we had a panel discussion on the newly started Phase V project on decentralised clinical trials, where CIFS is a contributing partner

New HIMSS book out on blockchain in healthcare

The HIMSS Series has a new book on blockchain in healthcare. “Blockchain in Healthcare: Innovations that Empower Patients, Connect Professionals, and Improve Care” is the title of the book. According to the book’s authors, Vikram Dhillon, John Bass, Max Hooper, David Metcalf, and Alex Cahana, blockchain technology may hold the greatest potential in healthcare. Some of the first use cases in medical payments, electronic health records, HIPAA/data privacy, and drug counterfeiting have been explored by early pioneers. There is still much work to be done in order to automate the complexities of today’s healthcare systems and design new systems that are focused on trust, transparency, and aligning incentives. In this book, Metcalf, Bass, Hooper, Cahana, and Dhillon have assembled over 50 contributors, including early adopters, thought leaders, and health innovators. They tell their stories and share their knowledge. The videos and transcripts provided by many authors and contributors humanize the technical details and abstract aspects of blockchain. Using the fundamentals of blockchain, the authors curated a collection of future-oriented examples that build on early successes. After a brief introduction to the fundamentals and the protocols available, as well as early blockchain efforts specific to health and healthcare, the authors discuss the promise of smart contracts and protocols to automate complex, distributed processes and some of the early consortiums that are exploring the possibilities. Throughout the book are examples and use cases, with special attention given to the more advanced and far-reaching examples that can be scaled at an industry-level. In addition, a discussion of integrating blockchain technology into other advanced healthcare trends and IT systems – such as telemedicine, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, value-based payments, patient engagement solutions, big data solutions, medical tourism, and clinical trials among many others – is presented. The final section provides a glimpse into the future using blockchain technology and examples of research projects that are still in labs across the globe.