Microsoft and Partners Going to the Doctors

In a high-profile alliance that may hedge its bet on WebMD (HLTH Quote), Microsoft (MSFT Quote) is teaming up with Pfizer (PFE Quote) and IBM (IBM Quote) to market software and other services to the country's doctors.

Pfizer announced Thursday that the independent company's aim is to reduce the paperwork eating up doctors' time and wallets and to automate functions such as writing prescriptions. The company will target one- and two-physician offices.

Microsoft said the project will offer services similar to those of WebMD, in which Microsoft invested $250 million in 1999. But Microsoft said the new project would target a different segment of the 580,000-doctor market. Microsoft and its new heavyweight partners have not released financial details of the unnamed project, nor have they announced the management team. They have said the system will allow doctors to use handheld devices to write prescriptions, to check lab tests and to communicate with colleagues and patients via email. ...