Microsoft and Humana have announced a new seven-year strategic partnership that will aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the healthcare solutions available to Humana’s members.
As a part of this new deal, Humana will have access to Microsoft’s Azure cloud, Azure AI and Microsoft 365, using them to help doctors provide patient-centered care. For instance, Humana is already working to “modernize” its offerings by moving member data on to Microsoft Azure, ensuring that physicians will have immediate access to any patient information they may need at any given time.
“Achieving our goal to provide better care experiences and improve our members’ health requires strong partnerships that allow us to be smarter, safer and faster in delivering care,” Heather Cox, chief of digital health & analytics at Humana, said in a prepared statement. “The technologies to empower our members to get ahead of their health issues and equip doctors with information exist today. Our partnership with Microsoft gives us a secure space and modern platforms to put these technologies to work for patients and their trusted providers.”
“We’re excited to combine Humana’s industry expertise with Microsoft’s Azure cloud, Azure AI and voice capabilities to remove barriers, promote health care data interoperability, and create solutions to ensure this growing population gets the right preventative, acute and long-term care for the best health outcomes,” Greg Moore, MD, PhD, corporate vice president of health technology and alliances at Microsoft, said in the same statement.
Azure AI will also play a key role in this new partnership, with Humana using the technology to safely extract information from the electronic health records of patients for the purpose of providing more personalized care than ever before.
In addition, according to the statement, the two companies “will also explore the building of next-generation healthcare experiences to transform the industry and care delivery.”
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.