Allscripts forms strategic alliance with Microsoft
The agreement is designed to accelerate the adoption by physicians of TouchWorks, Allscripts' suite of clinical solutions that are based on Microsoft enterprise technologies.
By on Mar 8, 2001The agreement is designed to accelerate the adoption by physicians of TouchWorks, Allscripts' suite of clinical solutions that are based on Microsoft enterprise technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will contribute funding, access to technology and marketing resources to accelerate the sale and deployment of the TouchWorks product suite. In addition, the two companies will collaborate on a series of case studies that will add to a growing body of data related to the product. The TouchWorks suite is designed to offer greater practice efficiency, improved financial performance and higher patient satisfaction.
Allscripts recently acquired ChannelHealth from IDX and secured a 10-year strategic alliance through which Allscripts became the exclusive provider of integrated clinical systems for IDX practice management system customers. The alliance clears the way for IDX customers to adopt Allscripts solutions.
"We are very pleased to announce this relationship with Microsoft as it clearly validates our strategy for increasing the adoption of technology tools by physicians," said Glen Tullman, CEO of Allscripts. "We also believe that this alliance will help Microsoft achieve its goals for contributing to best practices in healthcare. Together, we will be able to raise the penetration and use of our Microsoft-based TouchWorks solution, enabling thousands of physicians across the country to use a standard hand-held wireless device for all their needs, including their most common activities: prescribing, dictation and charge capture."
"Our alliance with Allscripts is an important part of our initiative to empower clinicians with point-of-care solutions that increase productivity and improve the care they provide to their patients," said Davide Vigano, General Manager of Healthcare & Public Sector Enterprise Solutions Group at Microsoft. "Allscripts brings a deep understanding of physicians' needs, a proven suite of mobile applications in use by physicians today, as well as expertise with handheld Pocket PC technology. By combining these strengths with the flexibility and reliability of Microsoft.NET Enterprise Servers, including Windows 2000 Server and SQL Server 2000, we aim to accelerate the adoption of these solutions among physicians worldwide and help them improve the level of care they provide."
The TouchWorks modules are designed to use handheld or desktop workstation devices to automate prescribing, charge capture, documentation, orders and results, patient education and structured notes with a tasking tool to help organize a physicians workflow.
Under the terms of the agreement, Allscript will assist Microsoft in the promotion of Pocket PC as a mobile computing platform for physicians, demonstrated by the recent release of the TouchWorks Pocket Library of medical references for use on the Pocket PC device. The Pocket Library is designed to integrate its references with Allscripts TouchWorks applications.