Today at HIMSS, Microsoft announced the establishment of the HealthVault Be Well Fund.  Microsoft will provide $3M in seed funding for developers to build apps that will leverage the HealthVault environment. While the announcement lists six specific areas for which Microsoft is seeking proposals, they have left the door open and will consider others as well.

Following closely on the heels of last week’s announcement that “Opened the Vault”, this announcement will provide further incentive for developers and start-ups to create apps that will operate within the HealthVault personal health system (PHS), which is critical for Microsoft to achieve its ultimate goal of building a robust and engaging platform for the end consumer.