Screen Shots: A Peek Inside Microsoft's New HealthVault

On October 4, Microsoft launched an open beta of HealthVault, a client application plus a Live service that will allow consumers to build and maintain a personal health record.

HealthVault is comprised of a number of different elements: A records database stored in Microsoft-hosted datacenters; one or more Live services providing users and approved health professionals with access to those records; a secure health-focused search engine; and various mechanisms for inputting everything from health-device data, to prescription information into a centralized record repository.