AT&T, Covisint, Microsoft Roll out eHealth Platform

True to analyst forecasts, the healthcare sector continues to attract telecom providers’ interest. Insight Research Corp. recently predicted the market will grow from $7.5 billion in 2008 to $11.3 billion in 2013. And indeed, the latest eHealth initiative, announced today, illustrates the opportunity carriers and other communications companies see for telecom within healthcare.

AT&T Inc., Covisint, a Compuware Corp. subsidiary, and Microsoft Corp. are providing a nationwide information exchange for patients and practitioners.

The service combines Covisint’s On-Demand Healthcare Platform over AT&T’s MPLS network and eHealth data exchange, along with Microsoft’s HealthVault platform that stores personal health information. Physicians and other healthcare providers connected to AT&T’s Healthcare Community Online then can access the records. AT&T, Covisint and Microsoft said the approach should lower costs and improve quality of care because it puts patients in control of their medical data.

Healthcare providers will be able to prescribe pharmaceuticals online, send messages, share images such as X-rays and MRIs, upload data from home health devices such as blood pressure meters and more.

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