Johns Hopkins Health System Adopts Microsoft's Azyxxi Solution to Improve Quality Reporting and Patient Care.

Joint project established to customize solution for commercial availability and share best practices.

REDMOND, Wash., April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced that Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) has adopted Microsoft's Azyxxi(R) unified health enterprise platform and suite of applications. This solution is designed to integrate clinical information while improving access to data and streamlining clinical research.

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Microsoft staff and JHHS informatics specialists, researchers and clinicians will collaborate to further develop Azyxxi's features and functionality. The two organizations aim to learn from, document and share information about the design and use of Azyxxi in the clinical and research environment.

JHHS, which includes the Johns Hopkins Hospital, will initially use Azyxxi to focus on healthcare performance measures as identified by the Joint Commission's National Hospital Quality Measures. The Joint Commission sets patient care and safety standards for the healthcare industry.

The initiative, which measures the quality of healthcare services provided for specific treatments, often yields data points that are too specific for general IT systems to capture directly. JHHS will benefit from Azyxxi's ability to aggregate information from across its existing, best-of-breed healthcare IT systems, providing clinicians with a single, nearly instantaneous view of cross-functional patient data.

"We admire Johns Hopkins' history of commitment to quality, excellence and innovation," said Peter Neupert, corporate vice president for health strategy and leader of the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft. "We're excited to work with an organization that is willing to lead by example, in an industry that so critically needs solutions for improved efficiencies and quality care."

About The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System

For more than a century, Johns Hopkins has been recognized as a leader in patient care, medical research and teaching. Today, Johns Hopkins Medicine is known for its excellent faculty, nurses and staff specializing in every aspect of medical care. The Johns Hopkins Health System includes three acute-care hospitals and programs for local, national and international patient activities.

About Microsoft

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

NOTE: Microsoft and Azyxxi are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Colleen Beauregard, [phone], or [e-mail], or Rapid Response Team, [phone], or [e-mail], both of Waggener Edstrom Worldwide, for Microsoft

Web site: http://www.microsoft.com/