Microsoft is moving to expand its healthcare IT activities, purchasing a health intelligence software package called Azyxxi and forming a strategic alliance with the software's developers, MedStar Health and Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC.
First deployed in 1996 in the emergency room at Washington Hospital Center, the software serves as a repository for all of a patient's routine clinical information and provides access to a comprehensive view of each patient, including imaging studies, according to the Redmond, WA-based firm.
Azyxxi is designed to capture, integrate, and display data from wherever it was created, and uses existing data to enable situational awareness and facilitate the recognition of data patterns, according to Microsoft. It's built on Microsoft's .NET framework and with the firm's SQL Server database software.
Under the terms of the acquisition, the Azyxxi creators will continue to support the software's development and expansion. Dr. Craig Feied and Dr. Fidrik Iskandar, along with approximately 40 employees from the development team at Washington Hospital Center, will join Microsoft and continue to work on research and future enhancements to the product, according to the company.
Another Azyxxi creator, Dr. Mark Smith, will remain as chairman of the emergency medicine department at Washington Hospital Center and will also serve as chief clinical liaison to Microsoft. Washington Hospital Center will serve as the development laboratory and continue to develop prototypes and deploy new features that support and enhance Azyxxi, Microsoft said.
Peter Neupert, corporate vice president of Microsoft's newly formed health solutions group, declined to speculate on a commercialization timeline for the software during a conference call announcing the agreement. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
July 26, 2006
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