Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation

Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series of industry clouds: Salesforce Health Cloud. This new cloud CRM offering aims to become a catalyst for positive change in the healthcare industry, shifting focus from traditional critical care to a more holistic patient-centric approach. Salesforce identifies a gap in existing systems, which are heavily centered around electronic medical record (EMR) systems designed primarily for billing rather than comprehensive patient care. Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation by bringing a patient-focused tool kit to medical care.

Industry Transformation

The healthcare sector is reorienting itself around health outcomes rather than billing outcomes. Joshua Newman, a former primary care doctor and current Chief Medical Officer and General Manager of Salesforce Health Care and Life Sciences, elaborated on this transformation in a recent blog post:

“Because of the Affordable Care Act and new outcome-based reimbursements, healthcare providers are treating patients like customers for the first time. This shift is beneficial for patients as it places patient relationships — not records or revenue-cycle management systems — at the center of care delivery.”

This shift is echoed by industry leaders like Jeroen Tas, CEO of Philips Healthcare Informatics Solutions and Services, who described the transformation in healthcare as connecting previously unlinked data to make it actionable and improve patient outcomes.

Key Components of Salesforce Health Cloud

Set to be available from February 2016, Salesforce Health Cloud is built on the Salesforce Service Cloud platform and includes:

Aggregated Patient Data View: A comprehensive profile that includes historical data and a map of caregivers, drawing from EMR and other ancillary services like chiropractors and physical therapists. This aims to create a 360-degree view of the patient.
Caregiver Console: A tool for caregivers to determine necessary actions, collaborate using Chatter social networking, and segment patient groups for monitoring and management.
Community Platform: Enables collaboration between patients and caregivers on healthcare needs and questions.
HIPAA Compliance: Ensures built-in compliance with various security features.

How Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation

Building on Experience

Health Cloud benefits from having a qualified physician at the helm, enhancing its industry relevance. Salesforce has leveraged the experience of long-term health customers such as Centura Health, DJO Global, Radboud University Medical Center, and the University of California, San Francisco, in designing the solution.

Exploiting Scale

Salesforce is targeting its industry cloud solutions at volume market opportunities, aiming for solutions that both clinicians and patients can interact with. This aligns with the broader strategy outlined in the Financial Services Cloud launch.

Working with Partners

Pre-built integrations into EMR and other data sources are key components of the Healthcare Cloud, facilitated by ecosystem integration partners Mulesoft and Persistent Systems. Philips provides connectivity to medical devices and applications leveraging its HealthSuite digital platform. Integration partners are delivering services for implementation, connectivity, and content management.

Showcasing the Platform

Salesforce is emphasizing the proactive approach to healthcare demanded by a new generation of ‘digital native’ consumers. Research indicates that 71% of millennials want doctors to provide a mobile app for health management, and 63% are interested in sharing data from wearables with their doctors. However, getting healthcare professionals to adopt new technologies like Chatter is a significant step forward, as noted by Newman.

Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation

The rapid succession of industry cloud announcements from Salesforce suggests that the public sector and life sciences clouds might also debut before Dreamforce, which starts in two weeks. Both the Health Cloud and Financial Services Cloud signify Salesforce’s commitment to driving substantial transformations in their respective industries. These initiatives represent big bets on radical change rather than incremental improvements, positioning Salesforce as a key player in the ongoing evolution of industry-specific cloud solutions.

Learning that your industry is targeted by a Salesforce industry cloud can be likened to the traditional Chinese curse of living in interesting times, signaling impending significant changes.