Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare
Care Coordination, Patient Engagement, and Healthcare Data Management
A Microsoft Partner since 2008, ScienceSoft leverages Microsoft tools and services to design efficient cloud-based solutions that enhance patient care, streamline clinical and operational workflows, and optimize healthcare data management across healthcare systems.
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare in Brief
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare is a bundle of industry-specific tools and templates that help create secure, highly customizable healthcare solutions that streamline care coordination and management, drive patient engagement, enable efficient healthcare data management, and more. Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare brings together a range of Microsoft’s enterprise services, such as Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Power Platform (includes Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Power Pages), and Azure, into a specialized environment tailored for healthcare. Used by Teladoc Health, Humana, and NHS, Cloud for Healthcare is best for mid-to-large medical organizations with complex, data-rich, and multi-process IT ecosystems.
Core Capabilities of MS Cloud for Healthcare
Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare adapts existing Microsoft tools to a healthcare-optimized environment. Below, ScienceSoft’s healthcare consultants outline the core capabilities enabled by this specialized set of tools.
Care coordination and team collaboration
Unified patient view
A bird’s eye view of patient clinical (incl. a patient’s care plan, clinical timeline, and care team) and non-clinical data with separate versions for clinical and non-clinical users.
Care plan templates
Customizable templates for shared care plan creation.
Care management tools
Creating and managing patient observation records, encounters, patient procedures, and appointments.
Care management dashboards
Dashboards for care coordinators and care managers to track care plan activities.
Care team creation
Templates for creating care teams in MS Teams (with predefined team structure, settings, and channels).
Secure care team communication
HIPAA-compliant secure messaging, file exchange, and video calls between care team members in MS Teams.
Task management tools
Assigning care or administrative tasks, tracking their completion via the MS Teams Tasks app, and automating task management (e.g., automatically escalating tasks when a certain clinical event is triggered).
Approval management
Creating and managing approval flows directly from an MS Teams chat or in the MS Teams Approvals app.
Notifications and reminders
Setting up automatic reminders triggered by clinical events (e.g., new patient admitted, lab result ready).
Shift scheduling
Creating schedules and assigning shifts in the MS Teams Shifts app.
Time and shift management for employees
Time-tracking and sending requests for time off, open shifts, shift swaps in the MS Teams Shifts app.
A provider directory
(for managed care organizations (MCOs) or payers)
Care managers can add practitioners, organizational accounts, and location records.
Patient engagement
Patient portals
Portals for allowing patients to directly access their health information (e.g., lab test results), schedule appointments, and message medical staff.
Azure Health Bot
The bot can be customized for tasks like handling automated symptom triage or helping patients with scheduling.
Post-visit surveys
Creating post-visit surveys in Dynamics 365 Customer Voice and automatically sending them to patients via email or to the patient portal.
Patient communication history
Tracking communication with patients across multiple channels (email, calls, social media).
Patient engagement dashboards
Tracking metrics like response rate, missed appointments in Dynamics 365 Customer Insights.
Patient segmentation
Pre-built and configurable filters for segmenting patients (e.g., by provider, location, demographic information).
Patient engagement campaigns
Creating tailored patient engagement campaigns for different patient segments and for different marketing channels (e.g., email, SMS, in patient portal).
Virtual health and telemedicine
Virtual appointments
Secure video consultations through the MS Teams Virtual Appointments app.
Virtual waiting rooms
Virtual waiting rooms with the ability to check in through a web or mobile portal before the appointment.
Personalized appointment reminders
Patient-specific reminders created based on demographics, conditions, languages, appointment type, and channel preferences (e.g., SMS, email, push notifications in patient apps).
File sharing
Real-time file sharing during virtual visits, e.g., for sending test results.
Visit transcribing
Automatic transcription of video consultations using Azure AI Speech.
Visit summaries
Automatically generating virtual visit summaries based on transcripts via Azure OpenAI and adding them to patient records.
Automatic assignment of follow-up tasks
Tasks like scheduling lab tests or issuing prescriptions can automatically be assigned using Power Automate.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM)
IoT medical device integration
Secure connection of home use devices using Azure IoT Hub.
Vitals monitoring
Real-time vitals tracking with configurable thresholds and alerts on out-of-range values.
Tracking patient-reported outcomes (PRO)
Patient-reported outcomes can be collected through patient portals.
Automatic logging of data into patient records
Collecting and standardizing data captured from medical devices and then transferring it to patient records.
Trend analysis
Identifying patterns in vitals and patient treatment adherence and visualizing them for clinical review.
Predictive maintenance
Tracking medical device state and usage patterns for predicting device malfunctions.
Clinical and operational analytics
Pre-built data pipelines and transformations
Structuring disparate healthcare data and preparing it for analytics and AI/ML modeling using Microsoft Fabric.
Clinical and operational dashboards
Power BI dashboard templates for clinical data, claims data, social determinants of health (SDoH), resource utilization, and data on specific medical conditions (e.g., diabetes).
Predictive analytics
Predicting health outcomes and identifying high-risk patients using Azure ML (available as part of Microsoft Fabric).
Unstructured clinical data analysis
Extracting insights from unstructured patient and population-level health data using Azure Text.
Medical image analysis
Microsoft Fabric includes a collection of medical imaging foundation models for image segmentation, classification, and anomaly detection in X-rays, CTs, MRIs, etc.
Document management
Pre-built medical document templates
Templates for creating referrals, discharge summaries, consent forms, and other documents.
Automated clinical documentation
Generating clinical notes based on patient visits and summarizing patient records and clinical documents with DAX Copilot.
Clinical data extraction
Automatic extraction and labeling of key medical information from unstructured text (e.g., doctor's notes) with Azure Text Analytics for Health.
Error detection
Identifying errors in medical records with Azure ML.
Intelligent document indexing
Indexing and categorizing medical documents using Azure Cognitive Search.
AI-assisted referral drafting
Generating referral letters from clinical notes with DAX Copilot.
Customizing medical identifiers
Setting up multiple medical identifiers (e.g., multiple medical record number and additional identifiers like a driver's license number) for streamlining search for patient records.
Sample Architecture for a Solution Based on Microsoft Health Cloud
- Azure IoT Central / Azure IoT Hub to ingest and manage data streams from smart medical devices, wearables, and remote monitoring equipment.
- Text Analytics for Health to extract clinical concepts, entities, and relationships from unstructured text such as physician notes, radiology reports, or discharge summaries.
- Azure Logic Apps (Azure Integration Services) to orchestrate integrations between healthcare systems, applications, and disparate data sources using prebuilt connectors.
- Azure Health Data Services to ingest, normalize, and store structured clinical data in standardized formats for downstream processing, exchange, and analytics.
- Microsoft Fabric to transform, enrich, and organize clinical and operational data through multi-stage pipelines (bronze, silver, gold) for advanced analytics, reporting, or machine learning.
- Dataverse to store and manage patient and organizational data in a secure, structured, and scalable environment for app integration and workflow automation.
- Dataverse Healthcare APIs / Virtual Health Data Tables to access standardized healthcare data using FHIR and other healthcare schemas directly within Dataverse-connected apps and tools.
- Dynamics 365 Healthcare Solutions to centralize patient, member, and care management data; to streamline care coordination, patient engagement, and administrative tasks like scheduling and billing.
- Care Management to collaboratively create care plans, coordinate care plan activities, track care goals, and manage care task assignments across multiple teams, departments, or healthcare organizations.
- Unified Patient View to display a consolidated view of a patient’s clinical and operational data in a single interface.
- Unified Member View to provide a 360-degree view of insurance members, including benefits, claims, and care history.
- Patient Portal to give patients access to their health data; to allow patients to schedule appointments and send messages to their providers.
- Virtual Visits to schedule, conduct, and transcribe telehealth consultations using Microsoft Teams and connected systems.
- Health Bot to assist patients in symptom checking, triage, and appointment scheduling via AI-powered chats.
- Microsoft Teams to enable care team members to share files, exchange messages, and conduct video calls.
- Power BI to visualize clinical performance metrics, clinical outcomes, care management metrics, and population health metrics via interactive dashboards.
- Dynamics 365 Customer Insights to unify disparate patient/member clinical and non-clinical data across multiple healthcare systems; to track a patient's full care journey; to create personalized appointment reminders, preventive screening recommendations, and other patient outreach campaigns; to get actionable insights into patient and member engagement using different tools like segmentation and predictive scoring.
Why Choose ScienceSoft as Your Cloud for Healthcare Implementation Partner
- In healthcare IT since 2005.
- Official Microsoft Partner since 2008.
- A member of the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program.
- 750+ professionals on board, many have official certifications across Azure architecture, security, DevOps, Power Platform, Dynamics 365, data analytics, and data science.
- Deep expertise across Microsoft technologies: 230+ successful large-scale .NET projects, experience in SharePoint since 2007, Microsoft Dynamics since 2008, Microsoft 365 since 2011, Azure since 2012, and Power BI since 2016.
- Proficiency in HIPAA and GDPR requirements.
Benefits of Leveraging Cloud for Healthcare
According to the KLAS report on the use of Microsoft Cloud Technologies in Healthcare, the key benefits medical organizations experience from using Microsoft Cloud include improved efficiency, better care, and cost savings. Thanks to leveraging Microsoft techs in a healthcare setting, 63 of the surveyed organizations reported reduced costs (in specific areas) and shorter project timelines, while 38% reported improved care coordination. Below, we present real-life examples of how healthcare providers used Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare to achieve tangible improvements.
Digital Health Village: saving time and boosting patient reach in Southern Finland
Finnish university hospitals, coordinated by Helsinki University Hospital (HUS), built a cloud-based virtual care platform that empowers patients to manage chronic and complex conditions more efficiently. Built on Microsoft Azure, Digital Health Village consists of three sections: My Path, which offers condition-specific digital care pathways, self-care programs, and remote consultations; Health Village PRO, a resource hub with clinical guidelines and online courses for medical professionals; and virtual Health Hubs that contain care-related information for 30+ different patient groups. According to an independent impact analysis, the platform saves up to 26 minutes of a healthcare professional’s time each day, allowing care teams to treat one to two additional patients daily. This translates into more than €42 million in annual savings for the healthcare and social welfare system of Southern Finland alone. Adding in the broader benefits (quicker access to care, reduced travel time, etc.) increases this number to €689 million annually.
VitruCare365®: achieving measurable outcomes in chronic disease management
Developed by Dynamic Health Systems using Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare technologies, VitruCare365® enables patients to actively engage in co-creating and implementing their care plans. The platform users reduced their primary care team contact frequency by 40%, showing that better-managed individuals require fewer interventions.
Among patients with diabetes, average HbA1c levels dropped by 16 mmol/mol—an improvement typically seen with the introduction of a new hypoglycemic drug, although none was added. Patients also experienced an average blood pressure reduction of 5.5 mmHg, indicating a potential 50% drop in stroke risk. On average, users lost 2 kg of weight, reducing diabetes risk by 25–50%, depending on baseline weight.
AiRCare: scaling behavioral health outcomes with digital case management
Humankind (formerly AiR Healthcare Solutions) doubled national recovery rates by achieving a 72% 12-month drug abstinence success rate with its AiRCare disease management platform. Built with Microsoft’s Dynamics 365, Power BI, and Azure tools, this solution optimizes care coordination, allowing medical professionals to manage up to 10 times more behavioral health cases. Using predictive algorithms, the platform identifies individuals who may require clinical interventions. Once the individuals at risk are flagged, AiRCare streamlines disclosure, enrollment, and treatment plan management so clinicians can focus on care.
In a six-month study, 70% of high-risk patients moved to a lower risk category after engaging with AiRCare’s digital case management and behavioral health support: 62 shifted to moderate risk, and 24 improved to low risk — demonstrating the system’s ability to drive significant population-level outcomes.
Cloud for Healthcare Implementation Costs
The costs of Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare start at $95 per user/month for smaller practices and at $20,000 per tenant/month for larger health systems and hospitals. However, it's important to note that this base fee only covers the platform itself. To fully enable its capabilities, additional licenses are required, depending on the specific features and integrations needed.
Microsoft Teams
To enable secure communication among medical professionals and deliver virtual care for patients.
From $6 per user/month
Azure Health Data Services
To securely store, manage, analyze, and share data using standardized data exchange formats (e.g., FHIR).
Pay-as-you-go (with a freemium model)
Azure Health Bot
Conversational AI for symptom checking, appointment scheduling, and patient engagement.
$500 per month (with a free plan of up to 3,000 messages)
Azure IoT
To connect, monitor, and manage IoT devices at scale, enabling real-time data collection and analysis.
From $10 per unit/month
D365 Customer Insights
For generating unified patient profiles and creating patient outreach campaigns tailored to patient behavioral and demographic data.
$1,700 tenant/month
D365 Customer Service Enterprise
For managing and resolving patient inquiries, complaints, and service requests across multiple channels.
$105 user/month
Digital Messaging add-on
To enable omnichannel communication with patients through secure SMS, chat, and social platforms.
$110 user/month
D365 Field Service
For streamlining and managing care delivery outside of traditional clinical settings (e.g., for home health care).
$105 user/month
D365 Field Service Resource Scheduling add-on
For automating complex scheduling and assignment of medical staff based on location, availability, and expertise.
$30 resource/month
D365 Sales Premium
For managing and improving relationships with referring physicians, partner providers, or healthcare payers.
$150 user/month
For creating custom low-code applications tailored to specific clinical and administrative workflows.
From $12 user/month
Power Automate
For building rule-based workflows that help connect apps and execute tasks without manual input.
From $15 user/month or $150 bot/month
Text Analytics for Health
To extract valuable insights from unstructured text in medical records (e.g., clinical notes) using AI-powered natural language processing.
A tiered pricing model with higher per-unit costs in the lower tiers ($25 to $5 per unit as the number of processed text records increases).
Azure AI Document Intelligence
To extract and structure data from a wide variety of healthcare documents (scanned, typed, or handwritten) by analyzing layouts, fields, and textual content (e.g., table extraction from lab results).
Pay-as-you-go
Microsoft Fabric (includes Power BI and Azure ML)
To unify data, AI, and analytics management, enabling the creation and scaling of business intelligence solutions.
Pay-as-you-go