 Microsoft's Worldwide Health Senior Director, Bill Crounse, M.D., and the Microsoft Healthcare and Life Sciences Web site are proud to introduce the House Calls for Healthcare Professionals series of on-demand audio and video programming. During these monthly programs, Dr. Crounse and a panel of leading industry experts and enthusiasts will discuss the latest developments and issues in healthcare IT. The series will explore how new technology is transforming medical practices to connect, collaborate and inform. Use this page to find the program that interests you. Applying analytics tools to boost organizational efficiency and optimize patient care
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The healthcare industry produces a unique "service," one not usually compared to other industries. But why couldn't proven tools and processes used in other industries be just as effective in healthcare? Could we benefit by applying the tools that are proven to be so successful in manufacturing, retail, or financial services? Could we use the same business analytics tools in healthcare to drive organizational efficiency and improve quality of care?
In this edition, Bill Crounse, MD, and his guests discuss how tools and technology commonly used by other industries could provide better operational efficiency and improved patient care in the healthcare industry.
Panel guests | • | Christopher DeFlitch, M.D., currently serves as CMIO for the clinical information system at the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where he is facilitating a house-wide conversion to Computerized Physician Order Entry and an integrated information system. Chris has lectured and published extensively on the role of information systems in healthcare. His recent work, conducted in collaboration with researchers in industrial engineering and information science and technology, includes developing the Penn State Partnership for Healthcare Engineering to challenge traditional notions of practice.
| | • | Frank Kapper is Vice President for Business Development and Principal Partner with the Orlando Software Group, Inc. (OSGi), a software technology firm that offers solutions for generalized business process analysis and Lean Value Stream Mapping. Prior to joining OSGi, he held senior management positions in the aerospace and defense industries, focusing on process engineering and process management. Frank has led several successful, large-scale initiatives in operational excellence and enterprise system implementation.
| | • | Ingo Heel is a 25-year veteran of software industry sales and marketing. Ingo currently serves as Director of Operational Excellence Solutions in Microsoft's Industry Solutions Organization, where he is responsible for solutions strategy, partner management, sales, marketing, and business development. Previously, Ingo was a Senior Product Manager in Microsoft's Information Worker Organizational Solutions Group with responsibility for planning and launching Office Solution Accelerators.
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Additional Resources | Approx. 25:14 min. | A visit with Microsoft Research: A look at tomorrow’s health solutions today
View part 1
View part 2 In this special two-part video edition of House Calls for Healthcare Professionals, Bill Crounse, M.D., visits with researchers at Microsoft Research. Each program reviews three promising areas of research that may one day lead to solutions with a direct or indirect application to health and healthcare. Viewers will gain insight to advanced ideas and technologies now in the labs at Microsoft Research long before they find their way into future products, solutions, or applications.
A special thanks to Dr. Eric Horvitz, MSR Area Manager, for his assistance in the production of this program. Part 1 | • | Situated Interaction
The Situated Interaction project at Microsoft Research aims to enable a new generation of interactive systems that can reason about their surroundings and embed interaction deeply into the natural flow of everyday tasks, activities, and collaborations. As an initial sample challenge in this space, researchers are currently developing a situated conversational agent that can act as a Microsoft front-desk receptionist (for example, make shuttle reservations, register visitors, and provide campus information). The system integrates a large number of artificial intelligence technologies-such as speech recognition and language understanding, face detection and tracking, intention recognition, engagement, and behavioral modeling-in a conversational framework that allows it to engage in mixed-initiative, natural language interaction with one participant or multiple participants.
Dan Bohus, Ph.D.
Researcher
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| • | Gaze Tracking
Eye-tracking technology can be used to understand how people interact with information-for instance, search results and Web pages and perform other information processing tasks. This information can then be used to design new ways of interacting with computers in which the machine recognizes what people look at and better understands what they pay attention to in order to respond accordingly.
Cutrell, E., and Z. Guan. 2007. “What are you looking for? An eye-tracking study of information usage in Web search” In Proceedings of CHI'07, Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, CA), ACM Press, 407-416.
Guan, Z., and E. Cutrell. 2007 “An eye-tracking study of the effect of target rank on Web search.” In Proceedings of CHI'07, Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, CA), ACM Press, 417-420.
Ed Cutrell
Researcher
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| • | Big Top
“FourBySix” is a large, 4-foot by 6-foot (standing height) surface computer that Microsoft researchers recently prototyped to explore productivity scenarios and applications involving small groups of users meeting face to face. For example, one use would be to support groups of designers who are combining and reviewing images, allowing them to sketch new designs in a collaborative setting.
Andy Wilson
Researcher
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Part 2 | • | HIV Research, Visualization
One of the enduring challenges in HIV vaccine design is the remarkable rate of viral mutation and adaptation, which limits the immune system’s ability to mount a lasting, effective response. The HIV group at Microsoft Research is developing models of evolution that allow researchers to identify and visualize the complex, yet encouragingly consistent, patterns of adaptation that suggest novel vaccine strategies.
David Heckerman, M.D. Ph.D.
Senior Directior, eScience Research Group
Jonathan Carlson
Researcher
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| • | DynaVis Data Visualization
DynaVis is an information visualization toolkit that provides several extensions to business (or perhaps even clinical) charting, including animated transitions between data and between different views of data. The animated transitions help users stay in context when complex changes occur, making it easier for them to perform their tasks.
George Robertson
Principal Researcher
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| • | Muscle-Computer Interface
Microsoft researcher Desney Tan and his team are working to create interfaces called muscle-computer interfaces, or MuCIs- that sense gestural input directly from muscle activity. This research may one day lead to new modalities for computer screen navigation and data input.
Computational User Experiences
Scott Saponas
Intern
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| Approx. 32:53 min. total | Transforming medical data into knowledge for better health: An update on Microsoft Amalga and HealthVault
This program is also available in MP3 for download.
One of the biggest challenges facing the healthcare industry is the management of data across multiple hospitals, clinics, and providers. Today there are powerful software and solutions that can turn health data into information-and information into knowledge; knowledge that can not only improve business and clinical operations of our hospitals and clinics, but knowledge that improves personal health and well-being. In this edition, Bill Crounse, M.D., and his guests discuss the latest news and developments since the launch of Microsoft Amalga and Microsoft HealthVault, tools from Microsoft helping to improve the way people find, organize, use and share health information. Panel guests | • | Grad Conn is Senior Director, Global Consumer Health Strategy for Microsoft’s Health Solutions Group. He is responsible for identifying and translating the health demands of consumers around the world into product management and product marketing for the Microsoft HealthVault suite of products. He has 22 years of experience in Web development and product marketing, including nine years at Procter & Gamble Inc. and 12 years as an entrepreneur in five different Web start-ups in the peer-to-peer, social networking, loyalty, and bookmarking spaces. Most recently, Grad was CMO of Points.com (partly owned by InterActive Corp.) where he built and launched the industry leading Points.com loyalty point exchange and registered 1.2 million users. Grad holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree from Queen’s University, Canada. |
| • | Stephen W. Gordon is a Sales Executive responsible for developing customer relationships in the Western United States for the Microsoft Health Solutions Group (HSG). Prior to joining HSG, Stephen worked within Microsoft’s Healthcare & Life Sciences group where he was the Healthcare Provider Industry Solution Specialist for the Western United States. In both roles, Stephen has been responsible for leading Microsoft’s healthcare focus with our provider customers. He has been with Microsoft for eight years. Stephen has been in the computer software industry for 19 years. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Northwestern University in Chicago. He now resides in Los Angeles. |
| • | Larry Stofko is Senior Vice President and CIO for St. Joseph Health System (SJHS), a $3.7 billion not-for-profit Catholic healthcare system with 14 hospitals in three states. For the past seven years, he has served as Vice President, IT Strategy and Innovation for SJHS, bringing insight that enabled improved performance through innovative clinical and business technologies in support of the organization’s mission and goals. Prior to joining SJHS, Larry served in various capacities at Charter Medical Corporation and Perot Systems. He brings 20 years of experience in Healthcare Information Technology and was recently honored with CIO Magazine’s inaugural Ones to Watch Award as an up-and-coming IT executive. Under his leadership, SJHS has been consistently ranked in the top 100 of the Information Week 500 annual ranking of the most innovative companies employing information technology in their businesses. Mr. Stofko received a Graduate Certificate in Health Administration from Trinity University and his undergraduate degree in Business Information Systems from Georgia College & State University. |
Additional resources | Approx. 28:48 min. | Facilitating caregiver collaboration with Microsoft Office Groove
This program is also available in MP3 for download.
Delivering high quality healthcare can be a challenge when information is passed between doctors, nurses, pharmacies and other healthcare professionals. Effective collaboration in today’s complex healthcare organizations requires an integrated information environment. How do we make sure information is complete, secure and accurate while providing access from a variety of locations? And how can the tools enabling such exchanges contribute to improved patient safety and caregiver satisfaction?
In this edition, Bill Crounse, M.D., and his guests discuss how information can move securely and collaboration can be improved across multidisciplinary care teams, using Microsoft Office Groove. Panel guests | • | Ray Jordan is Solutions Director for D2i Solutions Ltd. He launched IBM’s Management Consulting practice in Europe in the mid 70’s, concentrating on Business Process Management, and has consulted worldwide for many organizations across many industry sectors. He co-founded D2i Solutions in 2002, recognizing the changing nature of work to deliver collaboration and communications based solutions. Ray has worked in Healthcare for over 15 years and piloted the first application of Microsoft Office Groove 2007 within healthcare in the UK. D2i Solutions was the first Groove partner appointed by Microsoft in the UK. |
| • | Julie Ansell is an experienced clinician, qualifying from Guys Hospital School of Physiotherapy over twenty years ago. After working in London, she worked in Canada, where she gained her first experience of electronic documentation methods. Her involvement with East Kent began with the acute Trust in 1993, and she moved to the evolving Canterbury intermediate Care setting in 2001. She is national membership secretary for AGILE; Chartered Physiotherapists working with Older People, and is a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists Information technology and management working party. She has completed a masters level post graduate certificate in Managing Health and Social Care and is currently finishing her MSc Interprofessional Health and Social Care and plans to evaluate the project for her dissertation. |
Additional resources | Approx. 18:00 min. | Commodity Telemedicine: Bringing healthcare to the world’s rural poor
This program is also available in MP3 for download.
Delivering quality health information and medical services is a challenge even for wealthy nations. For emerging or developing nations, especially those with shortages or uneven distribution of qualified professionals and vast geographies, providing healthcare is an even greater challenge. But today, any doctor with a Webcam, laptop computer, and a broadband connection can become a global telemedicine provider. What could this mean for bringing healthcare services to our citizens, especially in underserved or rural settings? How might commodity telemedicine services be used to care for people beyond our reach? In this edition, Bill Crounse, M.D., and his guests review a pilot tele-health project sponsored by Drishtree.com, Neurosynaptic and Microsoft that is helping patients who live in rural areas of emerging or developing nations receive information and care from qualified medical professionals. Panel guests | • | Michael Aldridge is group manager of the rural incubations team in the Unlimited Potential Group at Microsoft. The rural incubations team is chartered with the discovery and concept development of new kinds of relevant technology and services for underserved rural communities in the developing world. A 14-year veteran of Microsoft, Michael has studied and worked in both Hong Kong and China with Microsoft and Standard Chartered Bank for more than seven years. He has worked in marketing and product planning a number of key businesses at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, including Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, digital media technology, and Windows Live services. Prior to his work in IT, Michael studied Chinese History, African History, and Politics at Colorado College and the Chinese University of Hong Kong; taught refugees for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and was awarded a Watson Fellowship for research on Hong Kong’s transition from British colony to People’s Republic of China rule. |
| • | Karishma Kiri is the director of the Unlimited Potential Group at Microsoft. She has been a pioneer at the company on the study and development of Microsoft’s effort to better understand the needs of rural users in the developing world. Currently, she drives various emerging market strategies and incubations, primarily focusing on product strategy and business development. As a part of the Microsoft Unlimited Potential team, Kiri has led Microsoft’s global rural computing (BOP) initiatives since their inception. Most recently, Kiri and her team published Making the Connection: Scaling Telecenters for Development, a book which discusses sustainable approaches to telecenters and using technology to accelerate socioeconomic development for underserved communities. In addition, Kiri co-authored the book, Connecting to Customers: Strategies and Solutions for Growing your Business Online. |
Additional resources | Approx. 19:51 min. |
Additional Audio and Video Broadcast Programs Available
 | Dr. Bill Crounse, M.D.
Dr. Bill Crounse, M.D., is senior director, worldwide health for Microsoft Corporation. Dr. Crounse is responsible for working with industry partners and healthcare organizations to help them benefit from using Microsoft technologies and solutions. Prior to joining Microsoft, Dr. Crounse was vice president and chief medical information officer for Overlake Hospital Medical Center and the Overlake Venture Center in Bellevue, Wash. Also, read Dr. Crounse's Healthcare Web log to get more insights into the latest technologies and trends in the healthcare industry. |
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