Case studiesHealthcare providersHow can Microsoft solutions help your organization succeed? Browse our case studies to learn how Microsoft technologies have helped the healthcare providers industry. View case studies for:  AevumRetirement village operator Aevum needed sophisticated business reporting to maintain and grow its portfolio of properties. In 2007, it deployed the CALUMO business performance management suite from Microsoft Gold Certified Partner CALUMO Labs. This suite, built on Microsoft SQL Server 2005, enabled Aevum's finance department to analyze and compare costs across the business with fast, up-to-date and easy-to-use reports and a web browser interface.  Alamance Regional Medical Center (ARMC)ARMC has a staff of 2,200 end-users, including physicians, nurses and administrators. IT supports 75 wide-ranging applications, from Eclipsys Sunrise Clinical Manager and Siemens NOVIUS Radiology to Kronos Workforce, for approximately 1,500 PCs and thin clients. Deploying, updating and supporting these applications were incredibly time-consuming and challenging.  Ambulance Service of NSW Using Microsoft Systems Management Server software, the IT team at the Ambulance Service of New South Wales can now update their 1,200 PCs without the need for a desk-side visit. This has streamlined their operations significantly as they are now able to automate routine tasks, such as updating software images, versions and security patches, to all of their PCs from one central location. They can also obtain an accurate picture of the state of the health of the network at any given time. The organisation is complementing this solution by deploying Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 (MOM) to monitor and manage their networked servers, enabling them to increase the effectiveness of their IT, strengthen security and provide maximum uptime. As part of their continual quest to deliver better services, the Ambulance Service of NSW has also created an innovative, shared Web portal to improve collaboration between emergency management agencies during crises, such as the Banda Aceh earthquake.  AsklepiosAsklepios runs more than 95 hospitals and rehabilitation clinics across Europe and the United States. Working with Microsoft and Intel, Asklepios launched its Future Hospital Program. One of its aims was to boost service levels through the effective use of IT. The hospital decided to move its mission-critical SAP software from a SUN and Oracle environment to a Microsoft and Intel infrastructure. With Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors and Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors combined with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, the hospital has dramatically improved patient care and boosted SAP performance by 67 per cent. IT managers also find the new infrastructure quick and easy to manage. Intel and Microsoft completed the project in less than three months, with no interruption to the group's day-to-day activities. AsklepiosAsklepios, a private hospital chain, manages more than a hundred hospitals across Germany and the United States. To allow healthcare professionals to securely share digital patient information, the company wanted to create a connected communications infrastructure. This universal data-exchange solution would give doctors access to a patient's medical record. To create a seamless flow of information, Asklepios needed a solution that would allow systems to exchange and utilize information on a cross-application basis. Explains Hess, "To date, the incompatibility of different IT systems has proven a stumbling block for data transmission." But while Asklepios wants to enable access to patient data to those who need it, the hospital chain also needed to implement robust security checks to ensure that sensitive patient information remained private. Asklepios was impressed by how Microsoft helped link government agencies in many countries, and the company sought help from Microsoft Services to architect and implement a holistic communications solution for the healthcare industry. Together, Asklepios and Microsoft created and deployed the Electronic Health Interoperability Platform (eHIP).  Atlantic Health In an effort to improve patient care, increase research efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance, Atlantic Health is transforming its paper-based clinical and drug trial process into a digital one. A process that used to constitute reams of paper forms scattered about administrative, physician, and finance offices will soon be facilitated by a fully integrated, Web-based solution developed on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The solution features electronic forms, custom workflow processes, and a centralized data repository. Atlantic Health will use the solution to streamline, standardize, and expedite its clinical and drug trial management process. As a result, the productivity of those conducting and administering trials is projected to improve, sensitive research-related data will be more manageable and secure, and the company expects to conduct more trials each year.  Charlevoix Area HospitalThe 100BaseT network at Charlevoix Area Hospital-a community, acute care facility spanning eight locations-serves all 350 employees, which include clinical, medical, and financial staff, as well as therapists. The network consists of approximately 180 desktop computers and 14 application servers. At Charlevoix Area Hospital, protecting the confidential information stored on the 14 servers by securing the hospital's network is top priority. The hospital not only regards first-rate security as a must to comply with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations, but also as a moral and ethical duty. Therefore, any security enhancements that a server solution can provide are welcome at the hospital. With this in mind, the hospital wanted to upgrade its domain controller software to Windows Server 2008 because the hospital knew the software offered stronger security and group policy enhancements than its current software. Strengthening security is an ongoing process for the hospital, and this latest upgrade to Windows Server 2008 moves the hospital one step closer to its ultimate goal.  Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is a leading pediatric hospital based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The hospital's department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, which collects and analyzes patient specimens in specialized laboratories, needed to improve processes to meet the demands presented by the hospital's growth. Specifically, the department sought to improve its data analysis and operational management processes. With the help of operational consultancy USC Consulting Group, the department implemented a management solution based on Microsoft business intelligence technologies. As a result, the department has gained more insight into its data and has automated reporting processes, which has helped reduce laboratory result turnaround times by 50 percent. Department employees have improved communication, and supervisors can manage more effectively.  Clalit Health ServicesAs the largest health maintenance organization (HMO) in Israel, Clalit Health Services serves more than 3.8 million people, and supports 70 million customer interactions per year. The HMO uses the Microsoft® Application Platform to support some 16 terabytes of data, including a 2.7-terabyte business intelligence (BI) solution that serves as a repository for clinical and operational information. Clalit's Enterprise BI Data Warehouse has become so important to healthcare professionals and clinic managers that the HMO decided on an early upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server® 2008 Enterprise to take advantage of new features including data compression; enhanced star join functionality to improve query performance; the Resource Governor, to help protect query performance; and support for spatial data types to help Clalit incorporate geographic and related data in planning service delivery.  Clarian Health When attempting to respond to user needs, members of the Information Systems department for Indiana healthcare provider Clarian Health had no single place to look for applicable policies and procedures. Nor did the department have a defined process for the creation of new procedures. Clarian Health then deployed a solution based on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, resulting in a more efficient way to manage its documentation and an annual savings of U.S.$145,000.  Community Health NetworkTurning to Microsoft and employing the implementation expertise of Project Leadership Associates, Community Health Network finally got the Business Intelligence (BI) solution it needed to drive improvements throughout the IT organization. With an intuitive dashboard at its disposal, the organization's IT department can easily monitor numerous service metrics and improve the organization's performance.  The Credit Valley HospitalThe Credit Valley Hospital is a modern, dynamic community hospital providing leadership in the delivery of health care services to the people of Mississauga, Ontario and the surrounding region. The hospital stores medical data in a back-end ERP system called MEDITECH, and pushes data to a variety of front-end applications used by medical and support staff. To automate data transfer to the various applications that required this data, the hospital had deployed a database-oriented system based on Sybase, but found the cost of point-to-point integration too high to support future growth. Working with Microsoft technology partner Sunaptic Solutions, the hospital deployed Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 for its ability to allow internal staff to easily build and re-use integration points, together with its support for the Health Level 7 (HL7) message standard. Since deploying BizTalk Server 2004, the hospital has improved patient care, capitalized on existing skill sets, and positioned itself for future growth. The Credit Valley HospitalThe Credit Valley Hospital is a community hospital in one of Canada's fastest growing communities. The hospital is committed to delivering superior health care services to the citizens of Mississauga, Ontario the regions of Halton, Peel and beyond - close to two million potential patients. In order to promote greater visibility and accountability in its processes, Credit Valley needed a more cost-effective method to track and monitor medical resource, patient and financial information. Working with Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Systemgroup Inc., the hospital deployed Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 as part of its business intelligence (BI) platform. The solution enables staff to define and use scorecards and key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive accountability throughout the facility. Today, The Credit Valley Hospital has transformed into a dynamic, metrics-based organization as staff now have better insight into organizational data and can more efficiently track patient flow across the organization.  Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical CenterBased in New Hampshire, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) began using server virtualization three years ago to curb server proliferation and rising electrical costs. The hospital and teaching facility initially used Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 to trim 75 servers but wanted to move even more applications to virtual machines. DHMC decided to move its virtualization infrastructure to the Windows Server® 2008 operating system with Hyper-V™ technology, using Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 to manage its server landscape. DHMC expects to reduce total server holdings by 75 percent and save U.S.$4,300 per server in hardware, maintenance, electrical, and real-estate costs. It can now virtualize its most demanding applications and expects to improve service levels, save 30 hours each month in server management, and create a more dynamic IT environment.  Eastern HealthEastern Health is the second largest healthcare provider in the State of Victoria, Australia. It provides public healthcare services to a population of 800,000 people across an area of 2,800 square kilometers. With more than 7,000 staff working in five hospitals, Eastern Health relied on e-mail and voice mail to contact its practitioners. The organization wanted an integrated messaging solution to streamline collaboration and cut operating costs. Using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with Unified Messaging in conjunction with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, Eastern Health has created a unified communications environment that offers extended capabilities and improves patient outreach. The new system provides a one-stop gateway for collaboration that is scalable for future expansion, is cost-effective, and helps improve patient care.  Englewood Hospital and Medical CenterEnglewood Hospital and Medical Center relies on its IT environment to help keep staff members productive and patients well cared for. Traditionally upgrading its PCs on an as-needed basis only, the hospital now is standardizing its technology adoption to foster greater efficiency and end-user satisfaction. It has begun an upgrade to the Windows Vista operating system with the help of Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Quality Technology Solutions. The deployment to date has been five times faster than previous upgrades and has already produced an increase in system manageability. Security features help the hospital maintain regulatory compliance, and users find that the Instant Search capability makes it easier to find information. In addition, the hospital is providing better support for mobile users, so it can help attract and retain employees by offering improved work/life balance.  Erickson Retirement CommunitiesErickson Retirement Communities wanted to improve management of its 4,000 desktop, laptop, and Tablet PCs running on the Windows XP Service Pack 2 operating system, and to enhance the security of mobile access for HIPAA compliance.  Erlanger Health SystemErlanger Health System is a growing, multisite healthcare organization serving residents in four states. The organization's e mail system was susceptible to downtime, and its mobile users needed e mail access from their cell phones. Erlanger implemented a new messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Now, Erlanger has a more stable system, can increase storage capacity as needed, and has boosted mobile employees' productivity.  Holzer Health SystemsHolzer Health Systems is a group of hospitals and clinics located in Ohio. The organization struggled to produce timely patient-care-quality reports because it relied on manual, labor-intensive processes. Now it is implementing Microsoft data management technologies to automate patient data collection and reduce report-processing time by half. Better patient data will also help Holzer compete with other regional healthcare providers.  Hospital de TorreviejaTorrevieja Hospital in Spain is a high performing public hospital that uses keyhole surgery and other modern techniques. The current funding regime in Alicante province requires the hospital to achieve high operational efficiency and employee productivity. Moreover, foreign nationals visiting the region expect world-class services. From the very beginning, the hospital put Microsoft® technologies at the heart of its healthcare services and built an integrated infrastructure. As a result, the end-to-end paperless environment helps staff access patients' records anytime anywhere, make timely decisions, and serve more patients. High efficiency has led to 50 per cent lower patient waiting times than the average in Spanish hospitals. Moreover, the hospital spends only €571 (U.S.$717) per patient per year-compared to €898 spent on average by most other public hospitals.  Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS)The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) is Finland's largest healthcare organization. With over 445,000 people using its services annually, it needs an outstanding information system to ensure the wellbeing of patients. In 2007, HUS upgraded its IT environment from a host of disparate software to Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2006 R2 Enterprise Edition. HUS hospitals can now collaborate efficiently in an environment that integrates different critical applications.  Kantonsspital St. GallenKantonsspital St. Gallen comprises the hospitals of St. Gallen, Rorschach, and Flawil, and provides essential medical care for east Switzerland. For seven years, the hospital's computer workstation infrastructure was based on the Windows 2000 operating system and Microsoft Office 2000 desktop applications. The client software was increasingly reaching the limits of its performance, however, and becoming unstable in some areas. In order to retain high service levels at a reasonable cost, Kantonsspital St. Gallen chose to deploy the Windows Vista Enterprise operating system and the 2007 Microsoft Office system on 2,000 computers across the organization. This powerful new IT infrastructure will also support the hospital in introducing further value-added services such as a clinical workstation portal for its employees that will be built using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007  Maccabi Healthcare ServicesManaging thousands of doctors and providing healthcare to more than 1,750,000 patients throughout Israel, Maccabi Healthcare Services wanted to improve its existing IT systems to provide better information services, upgrade workstation performance, make IT support more efficient, save energy, and enhance information security. Using specialized deployment tools, Maccabi updated 5,000 personal computers to the Windows Vista® Business operating system. Using Windows Vista, Maccabi improved employee efficiency, enhanced its ability to safeguard information, made system management and maintenance easier, and reduced costs. Now care givers, administrative personnel, and IT managers can focus on helping Maccabi provide modern and innovative medical treatment and healthcare services for an ever-increasing number of patients.  New Zealand Health IT ClusterThe New Zealand Health IT Cluster is a collaborative industry grouping of healthcare software developers, consultants, government agencies, and healthcare providers. Faced with the challenges of rising demands on healthcare resources, fragmented health information collection and exchange, and the need to empower patients to take control of their health, the Health IT Cluster looked to information technology to mitigate these complexities. In September 2007, the Health IT Cluster partnered with Microsoft New Zealand to develop an innovative online health portal that empowers people to manage their health in an online environment and enables connected healthcare information systems to exchange data smoothly. The Consumer Health Portal (CHP) was built on a Microsoft platform, with the objective of bringing significant benefits to the healthcare sector, through reduced medical expenditure.  North Shore Medical CenterNorth Shore Medical Center in Massachusetts ran its clinical technology system for doctors and nurses on aging computer hardware and software that frustrated medical professionals, cost the IT department precious time and resources to maintain, and inhibited the ability to respond to new business requirements. In its place, the healthcare provider adopted a thin-client solution of desktop and mobile units, which uses Microsoft® technologies. The results: Logon takes seconds instead of minutes, and reliability is improved. Hardware and software costs are cut by 30 percent; help-desk calls are expected to decline 50 percent; and total cost of ownership is down by about 30 percent. Best of all, the solution gives doctors and nurses more time to talk with each other and with patients, enhancing the quality of care.  Ontario Association of Community Care Access CentresThe Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres (OACCAC) is a member services organization that serves the needs of 14 Community Care Access Centres (CCAC) across Ontario. Responsible for providing 8,000 users in 250 offices with IT and networking services, the organization wanted to reduce costs and improve the communications capabilities provided to users. OACCAC employees were already using the instant messaging, presence, and Web conferencing capabilities of Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 to reduce travel and improve customer service. OACCAC is now deploying Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to take advantage of the improved audio conferencing and voice capabilities. By hosting audio conferencing bridges on its servers, the organization will expand the use of conferencing and save as much as CAN$75,000 (U.S.$59,325) annually.  PacAdvantagePacAdvantage is a nonprofit organization that pools health insurance plans from various carriers and offers them to small businesses. The California-based company, which works with major insurance carriers such as Blue Shield, Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, and regional healthcare insurers, relied for years on an antiquated system for transmitting customer enrollment information to its partners. To help streamline the data-transmission process, reduce data errors, and come into voluntary compliance with federal health insurance regulations, PacAdvantage worked with Accenture to architect, design, and deploy an integration solution. Using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2002, PacAdvantage is now able to transmit important insurance-enrollment information faster, more accurately, and within the guidelines established by the U.S. government for protecting the privacy of health records.  Park Nicollet Health ServicesPark Nicollet has taken advantage of the communication features included in Microsoft® products and services to improve visibility into the patient-care process. Microsoft Office 2003 provides the desktop environment for the collaboration tools, and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2003 combined with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 makes presence indicators, real-time scheduling, and contact information available across the network. In addition, clinic personnel use the instant messaging functionality of Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 to track and communicate patient progress.  Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical CenterThe renowned Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center-both an academic medical center and Pennsylvania State University's college of medicine, Penn State College of Medicine-were established in 1967 with a U.S.$50 million gift from the charitable trusts of chocolate magnate Milton S. Hershey. Within Penn State Hershey Medical Center, the Department of Emergency Medicine sees an average of 135 people per day, many of them patients with potentially serious cardiac conditions. With help from Microsoft certified partner Orlando Software Group, the Department of Emergency Medicine used ProcessView, an add-in to Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007, to analyze and improve process workflows for these cardiac patients. As a result, resources are allocated more efficiently, and patients, who are cared for quickly, avoid complications, long hospital stays, and extended recovery times.  The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana When it opened in 2002, St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana was the first freestanding hospital in Indianapolis to provide advanced treatment of cardiovascular disease. Until recently, the hospital used an HTML-based intranet to disseminate announcements, links, and other information to its 470 employees and 200 contract workers. Information on that system was difficult to find. With help from Crowe Chizek and Company, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, the hospital deployed Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 in November 2007. The new integrated and interactive solution provides easy access to information, enhances productivity, improves communication, and supports increased security for confidential information. In a March 2008 survey, 87 percent of St.Vincent Heart Center of Indiana team members and contractors who completed the survey responded favorably to the new solution.  St. Vincent Indianapolis HospitalAchieving a return on investment (ROI) of 72 percent is not easy in the competitive environment of hospital administration. In this Nucleus Research ROI Case Study, learn how St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital employed BizTalk Server 2004 to increase staff efficiency and improve customer service. BizTalk Server also helped reduce the hospital's information technology support and accelerate new integration projects.  Southern HealthLarge organizations using data warehousing often confront mountains of information, making it difficult to get compelling business intelligence to employees when they need it most. Southern Health, one of Australia's largest metropolitan health services, faced this issue, and more, in attempting to streamline its financial reporting procedures. After scanning the market for a solution, the Business Analysis and Reporting team at Southern Health improved information delivery by building a Web-based reporting portal using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. No longer is information trapped inside data warehouses at Southern Health, accessible only to a select few. The technology has helped Southern Health cut reporting times and costs, create high-impact reports, reduce reliance on spreadsheet reporting, eliminate duplication, bolster security, and improve its ability to respond to new requests for information.  Sutter HealthSutter Health, a community-based, not-for-profit association of 26 hospitals and 5,000 physicians decided to screen to identify intensive care unit (ICU) patients who might be susceptible to developing deadly sepsis, an inflammatory reaction to infections. As an alternative to paper forms, Sutter's internal developers created an electronic forms-based solution using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition. The solution has helped hospitals to save lives for ICU patients who develop severe sepsis. Development of the solution took only 60 days and has proven popular with physicians and nurses because it is easy to use and provides life-saving data. The company also enjoyed a U.S.$900,000 savings from cost-of-care reductions, and $48,000 in labor savings within the first seven months.  SYMX CorporationEvery year, hospitals must over-purchase equipment and supplies by 20 to 30 percent to compensate for lost and stolen items. Doctors, nurses, and other staff waste valuable time looking for equipment, time that could be better spent on patient care. SYMX supports hospital staff and patients by delivering visibility and rules-based workflows in the healthcare setting.  Texas Health ResourcesTexas Health Resources, which operates 13 hospitals in the Dallas/Fort Worth region, is working with Microsoft to build health-care applications for Microsoft's multiuser, multitouch Surface computers. Among the first Surface applications being co-developed by THR and Microsoft is a patient-doctor relationship tool.  United Bristol Healthcare NHS TrustWith 7,000 employees and eight hospitals, United Bristol Healthcare NHS Trust is one of the largest National Health Service (NHS) trusts in the United Kingdom. To improve employee collaboration and support excellent service delivery to patients, the organization's IT team piloted Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. Clinical staff and administrators can use this new technology to locate their colleagues and contact them in real time using audio calls, video conferences, Web conferences, or instant messages. What's more, employees no longer wait before picking up important telephone calls or e-mail messages that could make a difference to the quality of patient care. In addition, clinical staff can contact colleagues to answer patients' queries in real time, and doctors and other medical staff can react faster to emergency situations.  United Network for Organ SharingIn addition to facilitating every organ transplant in the United States, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) drives the development of organ transplantation policy. More than 30 UNOS-supported committees of geographically dispersed representatives from all aspects of transplantation-including UNOS-employed liaisons-meet regularly to establish and improve policies. To make it easier for employees traveling to and from these meetings to remain productive, and to simplify collaboration among committees, UNOS upgraded its messaging and collaboration infrastructure using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, and Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007. With its enhanced capabilities, UNOS expects to increase remote employee productivity, simplify teamwork, and minimize support tasks so that its IT department can focus on strategic, value-adding tasks. United Network for Organ SharingThe United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is a nonprofit organization that administers the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network in the United States. When an organ becomes available, UNOS and its members generally have less than 48 hours to locate a suitable recipient. UNOS is helping to speed the process by enhancing its internal Web-based DonorNet application with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. By using the presence and multiparty instant-messaging features of this software, UNOS will be able to involve multiple transplant and organ recovery teams in a discussion, instantly and simultaneously, and locate a suitable match significantly faster. The implementation of these same unified communications tools will help UNOS employees communicate more efficiently with one another and with external partners. It also will help cut annual travel costs by U.S.$100,000.  University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation TrustMore than 7,000 employees at University Hospitals Bristol National Health Service Foundation Trust rely on technology to communicate across eight different sites. But its existing intranet was underused, proving a barrier to effective collaboration and knowledge transfer. Users required intensive training and it demanded dedicated support from the IT team. With a solution based on Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007, the trust is rolling out a new intranet where users can create sites and workgroups and edit content independently. Staff have faster access to up-to-date information, while the IT team saves eight hours per week, and has time for value-added tasks elsewhere. Improved collaboration and new tools, such as a Web part that integrates a real-time view of bed availability, mean the trust can make better-informed decisions that improve the quality of health services for the community it serves.  Vanderbilt University Medical Center Severe sepsis is the tenth leading cause of death worldwide and costs hospitals over U.S.$16.7 billion each year (Angus, DC et al. Critical Care Medicine, 2001; 29:1303-1310). Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) decided to develop a technology-based patient screening tool to help its clinicians more effectively detect and manage sepsis. Physicians at VUMC collaborated with the healthcare application developers at Accent on Integration to create the Patient Safety Screening Tool (PSST) for Sepsis. The new tool was built using the guidelines in the Microsoft Connected Health Framework Architecture and Design Blueprint. VUMC anticipates that using the PSST for Sepsis solution will reduce the frequency and severity of sepsis through early detection and improved compliance with treatment standards. Vanderbilt University Medical Center Severe sepsis is the tenth leading cause of death worldwide and costs hospitals over U.S.$16.7 billion each year. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) decided to develop a technology-based patient screening tool to help its clinicians more effectively detect and manage sepsis. Physicians at VUMC collaborated with the healthcare application developers at Accent on Integration (AOI) to create a Web-based solution called the Patient Safety Screening Tool (PSST) for Sepsis. To optimize the solution, AOI used the enhanced Web technologies of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2008, and Microsoft SQL Server 2005, along with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the 2007 Office system. AOI maximized the dynamic new capabilities of .NET Framework 3.5 and IIS 7.0 to create a flexible, extensible solution for VUMC.  Wandsworth Primary Care TrustWandsworth Primary Care Trust (PCT) is responsible for improving the health of the people living in a large area of south-west London, and has to meet a large number of government-led performance targets. Data shows that it was struggling to hit targets in child vaccination, but the team at Wandsworth PCT knew that the data wasn't revealing the true performance picture. After meeting with Microsoft and IT consultants 21C, the organization gave the go-ahead for a new system to speed up the data aggregation process, and support better collaborative working. Due to Microsoft software, the figures are now more accurate, showing that the PCT increased reported levels of immunization by 5 per cent-bettering the last reporting quarter. What's more, new levels of collaboration are helping to increase the uptake of measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations.  Washington Hospital CenterCardiology clinicians used all of the powerful image technologies driving advances in heart care-coronary angiograms, echocardiograms, CT, MRI, and nuclear PET scans. Typically, such images were stored in systems far from the patient unit, so physicians and nurse practitioners had to leave the patient's bedside to see them. Similarly, siloed information on Medicare-driven core measures for cardiology made compliance time-consuming, especially when it came to patient-discharge instructions. In response, the cardiology service implemented the Microsoft® Amalga™, the Unified Intelligence System, technology that was developed at Washington Hospital Center and acquired by Microsoft in 2006. Consequently, the service is making patient rounds more efficient and thereby increasing patient throughput, providing more effective patient interactions, and boosting core-measure compliance.
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