contracts

WellPoint said on Wednesday that it has signed a seven-year deal with IBM worth $719 million. The contract is the latest high-profile move in health care for Big Blue, which set tongues wagging earlier this year when it announced that it will focus on the sector. The news means that about 360 information technology jobs at WellPoint will move over to IBM.  

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Government Health IT reports that a Montana organization has joined forces with a North Carolina consulting group, Physicians EHR, to bid on one of the eight prototype National Health Information Network (NHIN) contracts recently announced by the Department of Health and Human Services. The National Center for Health Care Informatics at Montana Tech argues Montana is a good location for a test network because of its distance from Washington and the needs of its largely rural population.

- see this story from Government Health IT

Electronic Data Systems has signed a $73 million deal with the state of Oregon to develop and implement a new Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS). The seven-year contract includes three one-year options. Over the past year, EDS has won similar contracts from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Wisconsin. The Oregon system will be a modified version of the InterChange Medicaid system, which EDS has already deployed in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma and Kansas. The Oregon Medicaid program …

> Democrats said they would not participate on an advisory panel charged with finding ways to cut $10 billion from this year's Medicaid budget. The legislators object to not being given a vote on the panel. Story

> Lawmakers in Illinois voted today to authorize legislation which limits awards in malpractice cases and strengthens oversight of both doctors and lawyers.  …

Officials at New Jersey's University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ) said the school will adopt strict new spending rules following a scandal involving no-bid contracts and questionable political contributions. UMDNJ President John Petillo, who oversees the sprawling network of teaching hospitals and research facilities, also said executives at the institution will be required to give back their credit cards.

- see this story from the Newark Star-Ledger

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 …