NEW YORK: Microsoft Corp. announced Monday it is buying Medstory Inc., a Foster City, California-based start-up that offers web search technology for medical information.
The company said the acquisition is part of its strategy to enter the consumer healthcare market. It did not give details of the deal, which was announced at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in New Orleans.
Microsoft claimed the search engine developed by Medstory is more sophisticated than usual search systems and it hoped it will help consumers to find more relevant information from the web and online medical journals.
The company will be part of the Health Solutions Group at Microsoft and its founder and chief executive officer Alain Rappaport will become general manager of health search in the group.
Microsoft had bought Azyxxi, a healthcare software system, capable of retrieving and displaying patient information from diverse sources, in 2006.
Microsoft's foray into healthcare sector comes at a time when major players are targeting the sector with online offers as healthcare-related searches have become more popular and demanding. Even Google has entered this field and it is reported to be developing a product offering health-related information online. According to a study by Pew Internet and American Life Project, a non-profit group, nearly eight million people in the U.S. surf the net every day to gather health-related information.
Rappaport said his decision to sell the company to Microsoft was spurred by the thrust the software giant has placed on intelligent search in the healthcare sector and the value of its global reach and resources. The two-year-old company has been funded by leading angel investors.
