Over the past few years, Renton, Wash.-based Providence St. Joseph Health, the nation's third-largest health system, has hired several technology executives away from Microsoft. Now it has formed a strategic partnership with the Redmond, Wash.-based company to develop solutions combining technologies from Microsoft with Providence St. Joseph Health's data and clinical expertise.
In January 2019 Providence St. Joseph hired Microsoft executive B.J. Moore as its chief information officer effective. Moore spent close to 20 years at Microsoft, where he served as Vice President, Enterprise Commerce and Compliance, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence and Vice President, Enterprise Commerce, Windows and Devices Group. He joined several other executives that 51-hospital Providence St. Joseph Health has hired away from Seattle-area tech giants. Other additions have included Chief Digital Officer Aaron Martin, previously of Amazon, who joined in 2014, and Chief Financial Officer Venkat Bhamidipati, formerly of Microsoft, who joined in 2017.
In a prepared statement about the Microsoft alliance, Moore said, "Providence St. Joseph Health is in the middle of broad transformation, and the alliance with Microsoft will help us fully modernize our IT solutions, bringing the power and flexibility of the cloud to an industry that has traditionally lagged behind in modernizing its technology.”
Providence St. Joseph said it would deploy new solutions and emerging technologies from Microsoft and its partners at a Providence St. Joseph Health-affiliated hospital facility in Seattle, near Microsoft's Redmond headquarters. The goal will be to scale these innovations across the entire Providence St. Joseph Health system.
Providence St. Joseph will use Microsoft Azure as its preferred cloud platform and standardize productivity and collaboration tools for its 119,000 caregivers on Microsoft 365, and will continue to improve and support patient engagement using technologies including Dynamics 365. Providence St. Joseph Health doctors and nurses will use Microsoft Teams, which is part of the Microsoft 365 platform, for secure communication and collaboration.
Providence St. Joseph has been making several bold moves to spin out companies and acquire others. The most recent announcement was the acquisition of Bluetree, an Epic consulting and strategy company that helps healthcare providers maximize their use of technology.
Besides its 51 hospitals, Providence St. Joseph Health has 829 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing and many other health and educational services.
