In healthcare industry, opportunities abound to make Microsoft Dynamics CRM a key component of the future

The opportunity to improve health care delivery through technology has never been better, both in terms of the tools and the regulatory climate. Microsoft has taken another step into the healthcare solutions realm through its new partnership with TracFone. The planned solution utilizes Dynamics CRM in combination with patient-facing mobile apps for Windows Phone and backend systems including Office 365 and HealthVault to connect in providers, and insurers.

And the opportunity to build more healthcare focused CRM applications, at least in the US, have never been better - not just for Microsoft but for Dynamics CRM solution providers with industry know-how.

"Up until about nine months ago finding a healthcare executive who was in the market for a CRM solution - or who even knew what CRM was - was about as rare as finding a unicorn," says Damon Auer, vice president for healthcare at Tampa, Fla.-based Tribridge.

What changed in the US was that the Affordable Care Act went into effect, which includes a new value based purchasing component for hospitals (referred to as VBP or HVBP) paid by Medicare. The US Department of Health and Human Services oversees VBP, and explains that the shift puts in place financial incentives aimed at improving providers' focus on quality of care, use of best practices, and improved patient experiences. In other words, hospitals are no longer paid solely based on the quantityof services they provide.

It's a Complete Reversal

Auer says VBP is a "complete reversal of the way that ...