Microsoft hosts H1N1 swine flu screening site

Stephen Withers
Friday, 16 October 2009 09:08

Your IT - Home IT

Unnecessarily seeking medical care is not a wise choice. "First of all, you don’t need to be there," said Dr Arthur Kellermann, professor and associate dean for health policy at the Emory University School of Medicine.

"And second, you will probably spend a lengthy period of time waiting to be seen among others who are sicker than you. If you didn’t have the flu when you got there, you may well have it by the time you return home."

Kellerman noted that "It really doesn't take long at all to [work through the assessment]. And the sicker you are, the shorter it is. If you are severely ill, it tells you right away."

The H1N1 Response Center is being hosted by Microsoft.

"What drove us to this tool was Microsoft's ability to step up and play a part in public health, to use our technical prowess coupled with Emory's clinical prowess to show people that these types of partnerships can really make a huge difference," said David Cerino, general manager of Microsoft's health solutions group.

If visiting a doctor or hospital is indicated, the site includes a mechanism for generating  a medical history based on information stored by the user in Microsoft HealthVault in addition to the questionnaire answers.

Microsoft isn't the only major IT company showing a philanthropic interest in flu. Google.org recently extended the coverage of its Google Flu Trends predictive tool to another 16 countries .