Premera Blue Cross to provide personal health records to the employees of Microsoft

Premera Blue Cross today announced an important collaboration with Microsoft aimed at providing Microsoft employees with integrated, personal health records. Premera is combining its data and expertise with Microsoft’s technology to provide the company’s employees with greater visibility to their spending and healthcare claims through a connection to Microsoft HealthVault – a personal health application platform available to consumers.

“This is a continued step forward to provide peace of mind to our members about their healthcare coverage”

HealthVault Empowers Individuals & Families

Microsoft employees and families accessing their Premera health benefits online can now send Explanation of Benefits (EOB) data to their personal HealthVault account. Users will then be able to share and take their health information wherever, whenever, and however they wish. This flexibility includes the ability to share health information with people such as family, healthcare providers, and fitness professionals.

“This is a continued step forward to provide peace of mind to our members about their healthcare coverage,” said Gubby Barlow, CEO of Premera. “We believe our members will find great value in expanded access to their personal health records. Premera is thrilled with this partnership with Microsoft and looks forward to making HealthVault available to additional customers in 2010.”

Vivacity Adds to the Value of HealthVault

A unique feature of the HealthVault experience for Microsoft employees and families will be the Vivacity Spending Scout, which allows users to analyze their own claims data, track and understand their healthcare spending, and plan for future expenditures. Vivacity is a company delivering integrated, employer-based wellness programs. The Spending Scout tool will be an integral part of an expanded HealthVault experience for Premera’s members.

“At Microsoft, we encourage our employees to take an active role in managing their health, which includes using tools such as HealthVault to store and share their health information,” said Brady Jensen, Group Manager, Global Benefits for Microsoft. “This offering will enable our employees both to better understand their healthcare spending and then share that information through HealthVault with healthcare providers and applications to help them make more informed decisions in support of their health.”

HealthVault Use to Expand Throughout 2010

This partnership between Premera and Microsoft marks the first time HealthVault will incorporate paid claims data to allow users more complete access to personal health information. Premera plans to make this innovation available to additional customers throughout 2010.