Microsoft Intros Next-Generation Amalga Unified Intelligence System

Software giant Microsoft Corp. reportedly launched its Amalga Unified Intelligence System 2009, calling it “the next generation of the enterprise data aggregation platform,” designed to help hospitals drive real-time improvements in the quality, safety and efficiency of care delivery.

 

The platform, according to Microsoft (News - Alert), helps hospitals unlock patient data stored in a wide range of systems and make it easily accessible to every authorized member of the team.

 

Over the past several years, Microsoft has been focused in improving health around the world through software innovation. The company has reportedly increased its investments in health, with a focus on addressing the challenges of health providers, health and social services organizations, payers, consumers, and life sciences companies, worldwide.

 

Microsoft Amalga is in use at more than 90 hospitals in renowned U.S. healthcare institutions, including MedStar Health, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Johns Hopkins Health System, and so on.

 

The Amalga UIS 2009 is said to be cost-effective to deploy and allows healthcare organizations to leverage existing IT investments to quickly build and deploy new solutions.

 

Key additional features include Microsoft HealthVault connectivity, Amalga Web functionality, preconfigured add-on modules and better IT tools to lower the total cost of ownership.

 

By providing connectivity with HealthVault, Amalga UIS 2009 is stated to enable hospitals improve the patient experience and the efficiency of care delivery by capturing, organizing and presenting patient data throughout the care process, from patient preregistration to discharge and beyond.

 

Additionally, when authorized by the patient, Amalga UIS 2009 can push patient data generated at the hospital, including test results, medications and discharge summaries, to the patient’s HealthVault record via the ASTM Continuity of Care Record (CCR) industry-standard specification. The patient can then use and share this information, as desired, with other clinicians or caregivers.

 

“Hospitals and healthcare organizations can promote better real-time decision-making, and ultimately better health outcomes, by liberating the wealth of patient data stored in siloed systems and putting it in the hands of key stakeholders,” said Steve Shihadeh, vice president of the Microsoft Health Solutions Group.

 

The new Amalga Web functionality is said to enable clinicians to more easily communicate and exchange authorized patient information generated at the hospital with affiliated referring physicians in the community or across the country.