General Electric, through its healthcare IT business, and Microsoft plan to create a joint venture aimed at helping healthcare organizations and professionals use system-wide tools to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience.

Upon formation, the new company will develop and market an interoperable technology platform and clinical applications focused on enabling population health management to improve outcomes and the overall economics of health and wellness, stated the companies.

This new joint venture will combine the Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft’s skills in building platforms and ecosystems with the Barrington, Ill.-based GE Healthcare’s clinical and administrative workflow tools.

The venture will develop healthcare applications on the platform using in-house developers and the platform will connect with health IT products, the companies stated. GE Healthcare IT will immediately be able to connect existing products to the platform.

The two parent companies will contribute their intellectual property to the new venture, including:

• Microsoft Amalga, an enterprise health intelligence platform;
• Microsoft Vergence, a single sign-on and context management tool;
• Microsoft expreSSO, an enterprise single sign-on tool;
• GE Healthcare eHealth, a health information exchange; and
• GE Healthcare Qualibria, a clinical knowledge application environment being developed in cooperation with Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The new company, which has yet to be named, will be headquartered near the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash., with a presence in Salt Lake City, and additional cities around the world. Michael J. Simpson, vice president and general manager at GE Healthcare IT, will serve as the company’s CEO.

Launch of the new joint venture is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected in the first half of 2012.