This is just one of several features of MedApp’s Carna Life app, an extensive telemedicine system that uses smartphones, medical wearables, and the HoloLens device to connect doctors and patients. MedApp’s mobile apps, which are hosted on Microsoft Azure, feature artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that detect life threatening events.
“We are using the tools in Microsoft Azure to develop a very advanced system of patient-generated data, of cardiac monitoring, diabetic monitoring, as well as general monitoring of human well-being, and then to manage the population health for clinics and systems,” Saykiewicz said.
The right AI package, the right partner
Two years ago, MedApp was trying to decide which company to partner with to develop its apps—Microsoft, or a competitor. “We knew we needed an artificial intelligence package to develop our product with, because our total medical platform provides automatic recognition and diagnosis of specific cardiac ailments,” Saykiewicz said. While he was more familiar with the competitor, Saykiewicz’s colleague encouraged him to choose Microsoft.
“That was one of the best decisions that we’ve made, because had we gone with the competition, we never would have achieved the level of support, the level of interest, and the level of human relations that we have with Microsoft,” Saykiewicz said. “The Microsoft team is made up of excellent people. They're interested in promoting companies that work with them and use the Microsoft stack as their backbone, which we do, and they're interested in cobranding and comarketing, so that is great for us.”
MedApp CEO Mateusz Kierepka agreed that the partnership with Microsoft has been instrumental to their success. “In every place where we’ve collaborated with Microsoft, whether it’s been in Dubai or Brussels, we’ve received the best possible technical support from specialists in Azure and artificial intelligence. Without this kind of support, it would be impossible for us to be where we are right now as a company,” he said.
A synergistic relationship
According to Saykiewicz, MedApp is a “deep user” of Microsoft Azure. “We don’t use this feature or that feature. We utilize it to the fullest extent to develop our products,” he said. “MedApp and Microsoft are so closely tied together that by promoting our products, we are automatically selling Azure services, so from that perspective, we’re absolutely synergistic.”
Although the company is based in Krakow, Poland, Saykiewicz said using Microsoft Azure allows them to serve customers globally. “Because we use Microsoft Azure Infrastructure as a Service, we’re really a global organization. We're able to service clients all over the world without a physical presence there because we have the cooperation of Microsoft and the support of Azure.”
Opening doors to new markets
Microsoft and MedApp’s sales teams work closely as well. “Microsoft has enabled us to not only develop our product and market it, they have also opened doors for us to new markets,” Saykiewicz said.
MedApp has participated in numerous joint activities with Microsoft, including at the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) conference. “We had a booth in the Microsoft village, we cobranded there, and we were able to promote our products. It was a great success,” he said. “We're marketing together with Microsoft there. We’ve done the same thing in Azerbaijan, and it resulted in business for us. We also participated in a conference on interventional cardiology in Kazakhstan.”
According to Kierepka, MedApp’s collaboration with Microsoft in Kazakhstan produced particularly impressive results. “We had a booth together with Microsoft and we presented our solution to surgeons. We had great visibility and a lot of good feedback about our products. Thanks to the Microsoft public relations team, we were on TV, and in the press as well,” he said. “Also, at the Digital Kazakhstan 2017 event, we had the opportunity to present our solution to the Kazakhstan Minister of Healthcare, who went on to present it to the president of Kazakhstan.”
Saykiewicz discussed one of the customers they connected with via Microsoft. “With the Ministry of Health of the United Arab Emirates, the speed with which Microsoft helped us develop contacts, get a meeting, convince the stakeholders that they wanted to do a pilot—it was like lightning,” he said. “We were able to cut our sales cycle from six months to eight weeks.”
“We now have quite a pipeline and to a large extent, we have Microsoft to thank for that,” Saykiewicz said. “It is a unique type of cooperation. We grow on the back of Microsoft, and then Microsoft grows due to our growth.”
MedApp technology in Africa
According to Kierepka, MedApp is also using their technology to support humanitarian efforts. “We’re working with students from Poland in their last year of medical school who are going to Kenya to help doctors there with daily work,” Kierepka said.
“They are using our Azure-based telemedicine system in several hospitals in Kenya. We’re supporting them for free because we know there’s a strong need for these kinds of devices in Kenya and other countries in Africa. With their knowledge and our technology, they’re able to support more people,” he said.
A shared passion
Saykiewicz said the future looked bright for MedApp’s partnership with Microsoft. “The Microsoft teams in Europe and the Middle East, everybody we work with are just fantastic—highly competent, highly motivated, extremely supportive. I couldn't imagine it being any better,” Saykiewicz said. “We’re passionate about what we're doing. It's nice to share that passion with the Microsoft team and be able to have a world-class partner and become a world-class organization with Microsoft’s support.”