Yes, that was my next question — do you work closely with the Windows Mobile team and is a HealthVault app something we can expect for the Windows Mobile application store?
I wouldn’t say we work any more closely with them than we do anyone else. There are definitely conversations, though. Dealing with other parts of other Microsoft is sometimes like dealing with other companies altogether. [Windows Mobile] has its own goals and obviously has a much broader perspective on the market. They are not a wireless health play. It’s a little bit like dealing with any other mobile OS or platform vendor. We are speaking with them about how they can support applications developers who want to create interesting and valuable healthcare applications on top of their platform. For [HealthVault] though, our interest is in supporting that effort regardless which mobile platform that developer is working on.
How does a device maker, say a wireless telemonitor device company like MedApps, become a partner with HealthVault and ensure that their device can send data into HealthVault?
It’s very straightforward. Our [software development kit] and all of the other information required to become a member is wide open and available on the HealthVault developer center on MSDN. Anyone can visit that site to learn how they can get started creating a HealthVault enabled solution. For device manufacturers this can go a couple of different directions. If you are trying to connect your device to HealthVault via PC, there is a device driver kit and we have a certification process that makes sure device drivers are up to our quality standards. That process is really similar to the process any device manufacturer might go through whether they are making a digital camera that connects to Windows. We have tried to emulate or duplicate that process for health devices. For companies with bigger problems and bigger plans we have a full developer support program where you get partnered up with a program manager who would provide assistance during development.
That costs money to be a part of that program?
It depends on the scope of the partnership. If you are OK with asynchronous email support, that’s not going to cost you anything. If you need to escalate it, then there might be a cost to the support call. It could be a longterm strategic relationship between the two partners where the company might want to have its entire suite of devices all HealthVault certified. That moves more into a business development relationship. Those pathways open up pretty quickly. We are a nimble organization within Microsoft.
You mentioned some costs for certain support, that relates to another question I received from Twitter: Revenue. If HealthVault is truly to become an “OS for Healthcare” then when and how will it generate revenue?
One thing to understand about the health solutions group at Microsoft, is that we are broader than just HealthVault. Most of our business and a huge percentage of our activities are around the products under the Amalga brand name. These are information solutions for large healthcare enterprises, ranging from life sciences, providers and healthcare systems. HealthVault is definitely part of the story to our Amalga customers. HealthVault in the United States is free, will always be free and that’s for adoption purposes, but it definitely opens up doors when we talk to Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins or New York Presbyterian Hospital or any of the other leading edge care providers who are also Amalga customers.
There are, of course, other ways we monetize HealthVault — we license it internationally. In Canada we have licensed the HealthVault technology to Telus, which is a major wireless player in Canada but they also run most of the healthcare transactions in Canada. They are going to deploy a service called Health Space that will be powered by HealthVault. They pay a license fee to us for the HealthVault technology so we monetize directly internationally. Also, for other Microsoft properties like MSN Health and Fitness, HealthVault allows them to deploy applications like Food Tracker or MSN Wellness Center that they monetize their own way through advertising. Since they can build HealthVault compatible applications we gave them a platform to build on so consumers could have high value applications that allow them to manage their health and wellness.
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