Microsoft Announces the Amalga Family of Health Enterprise Systems

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced the Microsoft Amalga Family of Health Enterprise Systems. The Amalga product lineup is a portfolio of enterprise-class health information system solutions spanning clinical, operational and financial functions. The Amalga family of products will be demonstrated publicly for the first time at the health IT industry's largest conference, Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 2008, Feb. 24-28 in Orlando, Fla.

"One of the healthcare enterprise's biggest issues is that providers and executives can't access patient information when, where and how they need it," said Steve Shihadeh, general manager for Microsoft's Health Solutions Group. "Microsoft's Amalga products offer proven solutions that bring together information from across the healthcare enterprise into one, easily accessible view. In fact, the name 'Amalga' is based on the Latin word 'amalgama,' meaning to bring together different elements."

    The Amalga family of products includes the following:    -- Microsoft Amalga. The new version of the product formerly known as       Azyxxi, Amalga is part of a new software category called Unified       Intelligence Systems that allows hospital enterprises to unlock the       power of all their data sitting in isolated clinical, financial and       administrative systems. Without replacing current systems, it offers an       innovative way to capture, consolidate, store, access and quickly       present data in meaningful ways for use by clinicians and executives of       leading-edge institutions. Amalga is designed for hospitals and health       systems that have invested in a diverse set of IT solutions.    -- Microsoft Amalga Hospital Information System (HIS). The new version of       the product previously named Hospital 2000, Amalga HIS is a       state-of-the-art, fully integrated hospital information system designed       for developing and emerging markets. Amalga HIS is built around an       electronic medical record (EMR) with complete patient and bed       management, laboratory, pharmacy, radiology information system and       picture archiving and communication system (RIS/PACS), pathology,       financial accounting, materials management, and human resource systems.    -- Microsoft Amalga RIS/PACS. The new version of the product formerly       known as GCS Amalga is now available as a stand-alone system as well as       an integrated component of Amalga HIS. The integrated architecture       means that a radiologist can use a single application to manipulate and       study images and access the patient medical record. The workstation       interface is optimized for radiologist workflow, including support for       predefined templates, an intuitive report editor and voice recognition       capabilities.

Amalga, the unified intelligence system, is now live at MedStar Health, a community-based network of eight hospitals and other healthcare services in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area. As part of the early adopter program, the beta of the new version is in the hands of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Johns Hopkins Health System, Novant Health, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, St. Joseph Health System and the Wisconsin Health Information Exchange.

"We are excited that we are a part of this early adopter program," said Ed Martinez, chief information officer at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. "Amalga is the backbone of our Total Cancer Care initiative. It provides instant access to the information, and allows researchers to make and prove their hypotheses within minutes instead of months."

"We are upgrading to the latest version of Amalga HIS," said Curt Schroeder, group CEO of Bumrungrad International Hospital. "This application has been a key part of our success, and we look forward to the new features, such as a medication management system designed to assure five 'rights' crucial for patient safety: the right patient, the right medication, the right dosage, the right route and the right time."

Amalga, the unified intelligence system, is being targeted for release to manufacturing in the first half of calendar year 2008. An early-adopter customer program is being established for the released versions of Amalga HIS and Amalga RIS/PACS, which are focused on healthcare providers in countries outside the United States.

Interested organizations should contact amalga@microsoft.com. More information on the Amalga family is available at http://www.microsoft.com/amalga.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.