Microsoft Corp. today announced that people using the Google Health service, scheduled to be discontinued Jan. 1, 2012, can easily transfer their personal health information stored in a Google Health profile to a Microsoft HealthVault account using the Direct Project messaging protocols established by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The Direct Project specifies a simple, scalable, standards-based way for participants to send authenticated, encrypted health information to known, trusted recipients over the Internet.
Google announced on June 24 that Google Health will be discontinued, effective Jan. 1, 2012, with records remaining available to account holders until Jan. 1, 2013.
"Google has been an important ally in providing customers with access to their data and tools to better manage care online," said Nate McLemore, general manager, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. "Microsoft continues to advance the HealthVault platform to increase its value to consumers—by adding important features, such as support for mobile devices, and by collaborating with hundreds of health organizations, including the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and CVS Pharmacy—to deliver robust health and wellness applications that connect to HealthVault."
Approximately 300 applications are connected to the HealthVault platform to help people lead healthier lives and manage a wide range of conditions, such as allergies, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, pregnancy and several others. HealthVault also connects to more than 70 devices—including blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors, weight scales, pedometers and peak flow meters—allowing individuals to easily track, manage and share important health data in support of their health and fitness goals.
Microsoft also is focused on enabling hospitals to connect to HealthVault as they seek to create closer, more efficient and interactive relationships with patients through the exchange of information. Health systems are using Microsoft Amalga, an enterprise health intelligence platform, to bring patient data together from disparate IT systems to streamline operations and coordinate care. These organizations then are connecting Amalga to HealthVault to allow the patient to receive, store and share his or her personal health information as desired.
A Google Health account holder who wants to transfer his or her personal health information to HealthVault can start by selecting the "Send profile to another service" option on the Download menu in Google Health. Google Health will then send his or her Google Health profile directly to HealthVault as an encrypted message using the Direct Project messaging protocols. Users will receive confirmation in Google Health that their profile was sent, and then an email explaining how to create a HealthVault account and complete the data transfer. Complete instructions for using this method, as well as an alternative manual method, can be found here.
Third-party organizations that have developed Google Health applications also are invited to migrate their solutions to the HealthVault platform. Documentation, reference materials and a Software Development Kitare available at the HealthVault Developer Center on the Microsoft Developer Network, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/healthvault, and the business development team at [email protected] is available to answer developers' questions.
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