Philips, Salesforce cooperate on medical platform

Royal Philips NV and Salesforce.com say they are jointly developing a software platform for medical services.

In a statement Thursday the companies said the system would be used for "patient relationship management," for instance allowing doctors and nurses to collaborate on patient treatment.

Philips is a major maker of medical devices and medical information systems, while San Francisco-based Salesforce.com Inc. operates an Internet-based system that helps companies keep track of their customers.

The companies didn't reveal any financial terms of the deal, or any targets. They said a major advantage would be in making it easier to compile information coming from various sources in one system so it can be analyzed by medical professionals; another will be easing the monitoring and treatment of chronically ill patients who live at home.

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