Microsoft gives Telus exclusive HealthVault rights in Canada

Canadian telecommunications firm Telus has signed an exclusive deal with Microsoft to market the HealthVault platform in Canada. This marks the first expansion of HealthVault outside the U.S.

According to both companies, Telus is licensing HealthVault and will brand it in Canada as “Telus Health Space, powered by Microsoft HealthVault.” The Toronto-based telecom says in a press release that it will develop a consumer-focused service and Telus Health Space to organizations such as governments, health regions, hospitals, insurers and employers, but apparently not directly to consumers.

Telus says it will store all data in Canada. There has been some concern among Canadian companies in the past that using U.S.-based servers or databases for health information would make them subject to the USA Patriot Act and open them up to all sorts of reporting requirements and other bureaucratic hassles.