Microsoft health patient journey demonstrator.

BACKGROUND As health care becomes more reliant on electronic systems, there is a need to standardise display elements to promote patient safety and clinical efficiency. The Microsoft Health Common User Interface (MSCUI) programme, developed by Microsoft and the National Health Service (NHS) was born out of this need and creates guidance and controls designed to increase patient safety and clinical effectiveness through consistent interface treatments. OBJECTIVE The Microsoft Health Patient Journey Demonstrator is a prototype tool designed to provide exemplar implementations of MSCUI guidance on a Microsoft platform. It is a targeted glimpse at a visual interface for the integration of health-relevant information, including electronic medical records. METHOD We built the demonstrator in Microsoft Silverlight 2, our application technology which brings desktop functionality and enriched levels of user experience to health settings worldwide via the internet. We based the demonstrator on an easily recognisable clinical scenario which offered us the most scope for demonstrating MSCUI guidance and innovation. OUTPUT The demonstrator is structured in three sections (administration, primary care and secondary care) each of which illustrates the activities associated within the setting relevant to our scenario. The demonstrator is published on the MSCUI website www.mscui.net CONCLUSION The MSCUI patient journey demonstrator has been successful in raising awareness and increasing interest in the CUI programme.