Microsoft and UPMC have partnered to improve healthcare delivery through a series of projects, Microsoft announced Thursday. The health system will work on Microsoft's Healthcare NExT Initiative, which will focus on clinician empowerment and productivity with AI, officials said. The companies will work together to develop new tools that will first be implemented at UPMC before it hits the market.

The partnership will focus on products to empower patients and providers, while advancing UPMC's immunology research.

"Despite UPMC's efforts to stay on the leading edge of technology, too often our clinicians and patients feel as though they're serving the technology rather than the other way around," UMPC Chief Medical and Scientific Officer and President of Health Services Dr. Steven Shapiro said in a statement.

"With Microsoft, we have a shared vision of empowering clinicians by reducing the burden of electronic paperwork and allowing the doctor to focus on the sacred doctor-patient relationship," he added.

The collaboration is part of multiple Healthcare NExT initiatives that include: HealthVault Insights, a research partnership with Tribridge and System C & Graphnet Care Alliance focused on finding insights on patient health, care plan adherence and patient engagement; and Microsoft Genomics, an Azure-powered genome analytics pipeline and partnership with BC Platforms and DNAnexus, among others.

Healthcare NExT also includes Microsoft's AI chatbot, which officials said telehealth provider MDLIVE will use to help patients self-triage inquiries before speaking with a provider by video. Further, Premera Blue Cross will use the tech to improve the way patients find their health benefit information.

Microsoft also launched CGI ProperPay for claims analytics. The new service from its SaaS apps, provides predictive analytics, rules management and best practices to reduce healthcare claims fraud, waste and abuse, officials said.

"At Microsoft, we're grounding our efforts in a set of core design principles that focus on the human benefit of AI, transparency and accountability," officials said in a statement. "We believe that ethics and design go hand in hand. Further, we understand that security, privacy and compliance remain a top priority for health organizations."

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Microsoft, UPMC's technology collaboration includes health chatbot, population health tools - MobiHealthNews