Cerner

The news this week that IDX has lost one of its two contracts for the UK's national health infrastructure upgrade may be bad news for them and good news for Cerner. But it's also a reminder that IT projects of any scale are big and complex, and also that healthcare IT is sufficiently complex that only specialty companies are in the market. Apart from Siemens, whose acquisition of SMS …

News that Kansas City-based Cerner has been awarded a deal as part of the massive $11.2 billion project to develop an electronic medical record system for the UK's National Health Service sent the company's stock to yet another 52-week high yesterday. Contractor Fujitsu, which is managing one of the five regions which make up the national project, named Cerner to replace competitor IDX Systems as a key subcontractor on Wednesday. The regional project is valued at approximately $1.63 …

There was a lot happening in the international health IT front this week as several major players made moves worth noting. South Africa's NetCare announced a deal which sees the healthcare network adapting software made by Germany's SAP for managing patient medical records and bookeeping needs.

Meanwhile, in India, GE Healthcare announced it will work with local investors who are building a $250 million healthcare and R&D complex in Gurgaon, a city close to New Delhi. The …

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee said it has signed a deal with Cerner which will see the company develop a database of patient medical records for its TennCare members. BCBS says it will add all of its commercial insurance and Medicaid patients later this year, putting about 2.8 million people in the system, making it the largest in the US. The company also said it is creating a subsidiary to market the system to plans in other states, yet another indication that Cerner may be the company to watch in healthcare.

- see this story from the Nashville Business Journal

Oracle has completed the integration of PeopleSoft and is "ready for more acquisitions," according to Chairman Jeff Henley. Could that mean the company is finally ready to make a bold move into healthcare IT? Rumors to that effect have been in circulation for months. With healthcare one of the hottest fields in information technology, a move in that direction would be a logical next step for Oracle. It would also keep a string of big deals going. In late April, IBM bought Houston-based …

Many people have been wondering what the impact of IBM's deal with UPMC would be on its largest established rival, Kansas City's Cerner. It turns out that for now at least the answer is none -- or at least not very much. UPMC says it will continue to work with Cerner and is now "expanding its e-health record co-development effort with the company," according to CIO Dan Drawbaugh, who is quoted in a piece in InformationWeek. Of course, the longer term implications of IBM entering the …

Cerner announced the acquisition of French healthcare IT company Axya Systemes yesterday. Many analysts have noted that European health IT markets have remained difficult for outside companies to penetrate. The buy gives Cerner instant credibility in the French market, perhaps enough to win contracts in both France and Germany. Axya provides financial, administrative and clinical IT solutions for hospitals throughout France, Switzerland and Morocco. Terms were not disclosed. The …