August 9, 2004
Microsoft Israel has announced it will assist Israeli company dbMotion to penetrate strategic markets around the world. Arie Scope, CEO Microsoft Israel, said that Microsoft has decided to promote the dbMotion solution for the integration of clinical information in the United States, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada and other European countries through Microsoft's offices worldwide.
According to Scope, the field of Healthcare IT (HIT) has become strategic for Microsoft due to the huge momentum that has been building in this field over the past few months. Two major drivers of this momentum are the NHS modernization project in the UK, dubbed as the largest IT project ever undertaken, and the US Federal Government's program to leverage information technology to aid and support healthcare, launched in July 2004. "The dbMotion solution is a great example of the implementation of advanced information technologies to serve medicine and the patient, while protecting the care provider's current investments in information systems."
The dbMotion solution enables clinical information to be gathered from disparate and distributed computer systems to create a complete medical picture of a patient, on demand and in real-time. This comprehensive medical picture contains the patient's entire medical history, including test results, treatments administered, hospitalizations, patient complaints, etc.
The implementation of the dbMotion solution enables authorized medical staff to retrieve the information on demand, subject to the appropriate access authorizations. The deployment of the dbMotion solution is achieved without the need to replace existing computer systems in hospitals, clinics and institutes where it is installed. The dbMotion solution makes extensive use of Microsoft's advanced platforms and products. As part of the collaboration between the companies, dbMotion is currently examining Microsoft's new technologies with a view to integrating them into the next generation of dbMotion products. These new technologies include advanced operating systems such as Longhorn, the Yukon Database and data integration technologies like BizTalk.
ne of the markets the two companies seek to collaborate in is the UK, currently in the midst of setting up a national medical record and a market in which Microsoft's technologies are widely used. It is the largest IT project ever undertaken, estimated initially at £6.1 billion ($11.24 billion). In the second phase, including training, support and systems integration, the cost is expected to rise to £25 to £30 billion ($46 to $55 billion).
The dbMotion product is already deployed in Clalit Health Services, where it links 14 hospitals, 1200 clinics and dispensaries and 80 laboratories. dbMotion was founded in March 2004 as a spin-off of the Ness ISI Division of Ness Technologies. At its inception, $6 million were invested in the company by the Vertex and Pitango capital venture funds. The company has 75 employees, with offices in Raanana and Beer-Sheva.
About Microsoft Israel
Microsoft Israel was founded in 1989 and was one of the first branches of Microsoft established outside the United States. Microsoft Israel has approximately 400 employees. Microsoft Israel promotes sales of its products, provides technical support and oversees the deployment of its products in leading enterprises in the Israeli market. It also has a development center in Haifa, one of a handful outside the United States, involved in R&D in new and innovative fields.
For more information please contact:
Ella Jacoby-Bashan, Bashan Communications
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Cheli Weinstein, Bashan Communications
Office: +972-8-9720774
Mobile: +972-52-323-8822