Microsoft Launches Healthcare NExT Initiative to Lead AI-Driven Transformation in Healthcare
Microsoft has once again made a serious foray into the healthcare sector, an area that poses significant challenges for technology companies. This time, it will leverage its expertise in cloud services and artificial intelligence. The company has established a brand-new research and development department and has begun collaborating with major healthcare suppliers on related projects.
Not long ago, Microsoft announced the launch of a new healthcare initiative called Healthcare NExT in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). As part of its R&D division, the project combines the expertise of UPMC’s healthcare professionals and Microsoft’s AI specialists to explore how artificial intelligence can alleviate the burden of electronic health record (EHR) data entry, and even support triage and outpatient care.
“I aim to combine the company’s hyperscale cloud computing capabilities with the power of medical research, enabling healthcare practitioners collaborating with Microsoft to achieve significant success,” said Peter Lee, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Research, who is overseeing the project.
Microsoft has also ventured into the healthcare sector, with mixed results. Previously, Microsoft operated a “Health Solutions Group,” which merged with General Electric last year after several years of operation, and Microsoft subsequently divested its stake in the entity.
Companies always seem to time their major announcements to coincide with large-scale conferences, and Microsoft is no exception. Seizing the opportunity presented by the 2017 HIMSS Health Information Technology Conference, the company released this news one week before the event’s opening. According to Microsoft’s statement, it will leverage natural language recognition technology to replace physicians’ manual entry of electronic health records (EHRs), thereby reducing physician burnout, improving healthcare efficiency, and streamlining health IT workflows.
At Microsoft’s Israel office, the company has begun leveraging its chatbot technology to develop a “triage bot” for the mobile telemedicine platform MDLIVE. In a demonstration video, a Microsoft researcher reported leg pain to the bot. The bot retrieved her recent use of oral contraceptives from her medication history and accessed her recent activity data from her wearable fitness device. It also displayed an anatomical diagram for her to indicate the precise location of the pain. Ultimately, the bot calculated a high probability of deep vein thrombosis in her leg and summoned a nurse. Additionally, the triage bot can recommend physicians and answer questions related to health insurance coverage.
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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that several companies now possess artificial intelligence technologies that are highly advanced by any measure, but his view is that Microsoft stands at the very pinnacle of the field.
One of the objectives of this newly launched medical initiative is to activate Microsoft’s AI infrastructure and demonstrate its value through services. Nadella believes that the Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) within the Microsoft Azure cloud computing operating system have laid the groundwork for the creation of the world’s first AI supercomputer.
“Who has achieved top-tier speech recognition globally? Microsoft. Who has achieved top-tier image recognition? Still Microsoft. This is not Microsoft’s subjective assertion, but rather an evaluation based on objective criteria.”
IBM Watson’s AI-plus-healthcare initiatives have taken various forms, while Verily, the life sciences company under Alphabet (Google’s parent company), is also developing similar technologies. Although these advanced technologies have been available for some time, their adoption within the healthcare industry has remained limited. Malay Gandhi, co-founder of the healthcare venture capital firm Ensemble Labs, stated, “Healthcare itself is not a technology-driven industry.” Deeply entrenched healthcare systems and stringent regulations are also factors contributing to the slow pace of change. He further noted that certain AI or machine learning tools developed by major tech companies have failed to integrate organically with existing healthcare systems, and that it is necessary to consider rebuilding the entire commercial healthcare system to embed a technological core into the industry.
Lee, who is in charge of Healthcare NExT, said that when Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella initially assigned him this task, he felt “a panic akin to being dropped into the middle of the Pacific Ocean and desperately swimming toward the mainland,” given that other large companies had previously attempted similar initiatives but failed. In his statement, Lee also noted that Microsoft’s goal during this period is to support existing healthcare institutions with cloud services and AI software, rather than launching its own medical brand to compete directly in the market.
“We know that healthcare services will become increasingly patient-centric, cloud computing will see broader adoption, and artificial intelligence will make the industry more data-driven; however, we are uncertain about when these elements will converge. Microsoft will have everything in place, awaiting the onset of change.”
Microsoft also has another ongoing new project called HealthVault Insights, which specifically involves using wearable wristbands and Bluetooth-enabled electronic scales as connected health terminal products to monitor patients, ensuring they adhere to their rehabilitation and healthcare plans after discharge.