The electronic medical records system, called Azyxxi, was built on Microsoft development tools and gives doctors real-time access to patient data from existing systems, including everything from X-rays and electrocardiograms, to prescriptions, allergies and other routine clinical information.

Azyxxi, rhymes with "Trixie," is being used at six other MedStar Health hospitals in Washington and Baltimore. Microsoft believes the system can help transform the nation's "stressed" heath care industry, said Peter Neupert, the Redmond, Wash., company's corporate vice president of the health solutions group.

"Health care is underinvested in information technology," Neupert said Wednesday at a press conference at the Washington Hospital Center.

Neupert, who rejoined Microsoft last year after a stint as chief executive and chairman of online retailer Drugstore.com, said Microsoft was making a "significant investment" but would not divulge how much the company paid to acquire the system. He also declined to provide a revenue forecast or a timeline for commercial availability.

Many technology companies, including Dallas-based outsourcing firm Affiliated Computer Services Inc., see health care as a major growth area. Affiliated this month acquired health care payer Primax Recoveries Inc. for $40 million, and said the move was part of its goal to expand in the health care field.

Earlier this month, General Motors Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner told a Senate panel that Congress should consider implementing national health information technology. GM is the nation's largest private provider of health care and spent $5.3 billion last year for 1.1 million employees, retirees and their dependents.

Azyxxi, which was first deployed in 1996, is an "air traffic control system for hospitals," says Craig Feied, a physician who developed the system with his colleague, Dr. Mark Smith. Feied said the system requires minimal training for physicians and provides always-on access to medical records with 1/8-second response time, basically one click of the mouse.

The system can be set up in as few as 90 days at a hospital and does not require medical professionals to manually enter data, but gathers information via real-time feeds from existing systems at a hospital, Feied said.

Security and privacy are important issues for the health care industry, Neupert said, adding that it would be an "ongoing area of investment" for Microsoft.

Azyxxi already uses role-based access controls based on a worker's job function and is compliant with patient privacy provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The system is flexible enough to adapt to the security and privacy standards of individual health care institutions, which determine who has access and to what information, as well as limiting that access by time of day or department, Feied told The Associated Press. He uses an iris scanner to log in at the Washington Hospital Center and said his personal preference was that such biometric access becomes the standard.

As part of Microsoft's acquisition, Drs. Feied and Smith, along with about 40 employees from the development team at Washington Hospital Center, will join Microsoft to develop product enhancements. Smith will remain chairman of the emergency medicine department at Washington Hospital Center and will also serve as chief clinical liaison to Microsoft.

By Dan Caterinicchia