New Microsoft direction in Health Care - Partners with Cerner and the Patient gets to play X-Box

Here it is on show at the Microsoft booth...yes the patients in the pilot study hospital can now play X-Box! In addition the Cerner Console has some additional features including My Health Notes so they can communicate electronically with their physicians, My Schedule to give patients an itinerary of the events for the day, My Hospital with information about hospital services, maps, etc., My Opinion to allow patients to give real time feedback on their hospital stay and My Entertainment..for movies and X-Box.

It’s a dicey proposition given that Microsoft is now everywhere in the world of computing. But that’s where it’s going anyway with the Cerner Care Console, being exhibited at its CES booth this week. The Care Console was developed through Spectrum Health, a Michigan hospital chain, and Cerner Corp.
The new technology will be displayed today in the Microsoft booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 7-10.

Cerner is well aware who it’s shaking hands with and has isolated Microsoft’s involvement to the user interface. Cerner’s own Millenium system, which is handling all the back-end computing, is based on HP’s HP-UX and an Oracle database. So despite the booth hype, all Microsoft is really showing is its Windows Media platform alongside Cerner’s Millenium system, which is handling the infrastructure requirements.
The Care Console provides a way for patients to interact with doctors from their hospital beds, and it lets Microsoft sneak in a pitch for its X-Box game machine, as well as entertainment delivered by the Media Player.
By integrating Spectrum Health's knowledge about the patient experience with the Cerner Millennium(R) healthcare information technology (HIT) computing platform, and Microsoft Windows Media Center, the Care Console system keeps patients informed about their condition, medical care and provider team during their hospital stay.

In addition, Cerner also has incorporated separately the use of Xbox 360 retail consoles into this system to offer patients gaming and entertainment experiences. Spectrum Health is piloting implementation of the Care Console system in one of its units at its 750-bed Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids.