MSFT Microsoft Corporation

By Micah Maidenberg 

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Microsoft Corp. will work together to figure out new ways to deliver better and lower-cost health care.

The companies said Tuesday they've formed a partnership focused on delivering more affordable and personal health care for people around the globe. As part of the effort, Walgreens plans to open this year 12 "digital health corners" inside of its stores focused on merchandising and the sale of health-related devices.

Separately, Walgreens disclosed in a securities filing that it expects to recognize cost savings over time in connection with certain activities related to the partnership with Microsoft. The pharmacy chain said some of these activities may result in significant restructuring charges.

Both Walgreens and Microsoft committed to a multiyear research and development initiative that includes funding, bringing together subject-matter experts, technology and pooling other resources. A spokesman for Walgreens declined to specify the size of the company's investment and a media representative for Microsoft couldn't immediately be reached.

Other companies have teamed up to try to lower health-care costs, most notably Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., which launched an initiative in early 2018 aimed at overhauling the health-care system.

Walgreens and Microsoft say they want to link Walgreens retail shops and health-information systems to people via their digital devices.

Using data science and artificial intelligence to analyze this data will allow for "fundamental improvements such as supporting the transition of health care data into more community-based locations and sustainable transformation in health care delivery," the companies said in a statement.

Microsoft will build a cloud platform to host this data.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 15, 2019 09:30 ET (14:30 GMT)

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