Microsoft Launches Cloud-Based Platform For Healthcare Organizations

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is launching a cloud-based software solution which is tailored to provide a platform for the specific needs of healthcare groups.

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The tech giant’s first industry-specific cloud offering, also known as Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, seeks to provide automation on high-value workflows, as well as combine deep data analytics to better connect health teams and improve collaboration, decision-making, and operational efficiencies.

As such the cloud software solution will enable hospitals to collate data throughout an interaction with a patient, which will allow them to create individualized care plans, deploy secure virtual visits, chatbot assessments, and remote health monitoring.

“Healthcare will be the first industry served with additional industry-specific clouds to follow,” said Tom McGuinness, VC of Wordwide Health at Microsoft.

For now, Microsoft is making the healthcare cloud platform available through a free trial for the next six months.

The offering come as Microsoft just announced a collaboration with UnitedHealth Group (UNH) for an everyday free screening app for coronavirus symptoms as more and more employers are planning to reopen their businesses and are subject to stringent health requirements.

The tech giant said it is already working closely with health system providers from organizations like Accenture, KPMG, and Nuance to co-develop new solutions with leaders in their respective sectors like Humana, Providence, Novartis, and Walgreens Boots Alliance.

Five-star analyst Alex Zukin at RBC Capital raised Microsoft’s price target to $200 from $196 and kept his Buy rating on the shares after hosting meetings with investors.

Zukin said that although Microsoft will not be immune to macro demand trends, its broad product portfolio should benefit from increasing cloud demand as more companies seek to adopt its cloud and collaboration offerings to better enable remote work, disaster recovery, and flexibility. Zukin expects Microsoft’s revenue and gross profit growth to accelerate as Azure and Office 365 expand within its sales mix.

TipRanks data shows that overall Wall Street analysts are almost unanimously bullish on Microsoft’s stock. Twenty-one out of the 22 analysts have Buy ratings and 1 has a Hold rating adding up to a Strong Buy consensus. The $198.89 average price target provides investors with 8.6% upside potential in the shares in the coming 12 months. (See Microsoft stock analysis on TipRanks).