08.03.2018 13:00 CEST/EET (UTC +2)
Press Release
For Immediate Release
ESPOO — March 8, 2018 — Innofactor Plc today announced it has been named a recipient of Microsoft Corp.’s 2018 Health Innovation Awards.
The awards, which were announced at the 2018 HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada, recognize health organizations and their technology solution partners for using Microsoft’s intelligent health technologies in innovative ways that help engage patients, empower care teams, optimize clinical and operational effectiveness, and transform health. The 2018 winners are impacting the industry by creating breakthrough solutions that empower health and life sciences organizations, while meeting global, local and industry-specific compliance and security standards.
The award was received by Innofactor's Hannu Laesvuori, Director Healthcare and Welfare and Health Lead Päivi Havisalo together with HUS's Development Director Visa Honkanen and Medical Director Markku Mäkijärvi. Chris Sakalosky, vice president, U.S. Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft stands on the right.
Health Village is a rapidly growing healthcare specialized cloud service based on Microsoft Azure, modern Dynamics 365 and Office 365 technologies. It is built together with five University hospitals as part of Virtual Hospital 2.0 project. The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) is responsible for the development of the technical platform.
Health Village provides information and support to all parties concerned: medical care for patients and tools for healthcare professionals. The Health Village services complement and offer alternatives to traditional hospital care. The secret behind the popularity is that University hospital professionals together with different patient groups and patient organizations have participated in the design of the system to an exceptional extent, starting from the earliest planning phases. More than 1,250 trained professionals from University hospitals, and more than 1,500 patients have participated in planning Health Village services.
Use of the service has doubled over the past year, and Health Village is already recording more than 250,000 visits per month. The service offers already 24 “virtual houses” for different patient groups which advice in different life situations and symptoms. The newest houses, Diabetes, Palliative, Emergency and Gastroenterology, were opened at the end of February.
In February Innofactor concluded a collaboration agreement with HUS, with the intention of expanding the Health Village concept to the other Nordic countries. The technological platform for the digital service becomes available throughout the Nordic region, with exclusive rights via Innofactor.
”Since 2015, Innofactor has served as HUS’s principal partner in developing the technological platform for Health Village. The received awards are recognitions of the innovativeness of HUS's specialized medical care professionals, and Innofactor's ability to implement the most demanding healthcare cloud services. Because Health Village is a cloud service, its technology platform is quick to deliver to the Nordic specialized medical care organizations to develop their digital services," says Hannu Laesvuori, Innofactor’s Director, Healthcare and Welfare.
“In the end of 2017, the “own path” and “digital care path” were completed enabling the efficient deployment of patient-specific digital services and the opening of the service channels to special medical care patients. This way the technology platform of Health Village was completed even though the development continues. The award received is a recognition of innovative conceptualization and multi-professional development with competent partners,” continues Sirpa Arvonen, Director, Virtual Hospital 2.0 Project at HUS.
“The health industry is undergoing a Digital Transformation in which intelligent health technologies are helping organizations, communities and individuals improve care by helping them better understand and share information,” said Chris Sakalosky, vice president, U.S. Health & Life Sciences, Microsoft. “This year’s Microsoft Health Innovation Award recipients are advancing the goals of improved patient engagement and care coordination through their pioneering use of Microsoft devices, platforms and cloud and AI services.”
Nominations were submitted by health providers, payers, pharmaceutical and life science organizations, and public and private health institutions across the world for applying Microsoft technology to create transformative and highly-effective innovations. An esteemed panel of industry experts selected this year’s winners based on how their innovation represents a forward-thinking development or implementation of a solution that is delivering groundbreaking results and producing better health outcomes for more people. Recipients will be highlighted on the Microsoft in Health blog at www.Microsoft.com/Health.
For more information
Hannu Laesvuori, Director Healthcare and Welfare, Innofactor
hannu.laesvuori@innofactor.com, +358 40 801 8222
Sirpa Arvonen, Director, Virtual Hospital 2.0 Project
sirpa.arvonen@innofactor.com, +358 50 407 4544
Innofactor is a leading Nordic provider of digitalization and cloud solutions. Innofactor has Microsoft Ecosystem’s leading expertise and the most comprehensive offering in the Nordics. Innofactor has over 600 eager and motivated top professionals in Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Innofactor serves over 1,500 commercial, public, and third sector organizations. In 2013 to 2017, the annual growth of Innofactor’s net sales has been over 20%. The Innofactor Plc share is listed in the technology section of the main list of NASDAQ Helsinki Ltd. www.innofactor.com
The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) is a municipal association established by 24 local authorities. The association is tasked with delivering the specialist healthcare that the member municipalities and their citizens need. HUCS University Hospital forms part of the HUS association and is also responsible, within a special catchment area that extends beyond the borders of the district itself, for treating patients with rare illnesses and patients who require intensive care. HUCS even holds nationwide responsibility for certain illnesses. The HUCS special catchment area comprises the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS), the South Karelia Social and Health Care District (Eksote), Kymenlaakso Social and Health Services (Carea), and the municipal welfare association of Päijät-Häme. www.hus.fi/en