Health software firm signs up top US hospital company

By RICHARD PAMATATAU

Auckland healthcare software maker Orion Systems has snared its most significant American customer - the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System - as it continues to fossick for business in the US.

The deal is understood to be worth several million dollars.

Orion chief executive Ian McCrae said Johns Hopkins, based in Baltimore, would install his company's Concerto Context Management software, which simplified electronic access to patient information.

He said all patient information at Johns Hopkins was stored in many applications across the organisation. Concerto would save time as it identified each patient across all clinical applications.

When clinicians looked up patient data at present, they had to search for the patient across each application, even if those applications were available on the same computer terminal, said McCrae.

Orion already has a number of American customers, but McCrae said the Johns Hopkins deal was the "reference site of all reference sites" and would give its 15 staff looking for business in North America a real benchmark to talk about.

Johns Hopkins is one of the world's leading centres for scholarship, research and patient care.

The Health System, which has its origins in the founding of Johns Hopkins Hospital, now comprises three hospitals and other services such as a community physicians group and home care.

The $2.7 billion enterprise is one of the largest employers in Maryland.

"This is the kind of sale that gets analyst firms like Gartner Group taking New Zealand firms seriously," said McCrae.

Orion Systems has also formed business relationships with software maker Oracle and North American giant Sierra Consulting.

Orion has made a significant investment in North America and now has an office in Canada as well as two in the US - Santa Monica and Baltimore.

The company is also part of a consortium short-listed for two large regional IT projects in the south and east of England for the National Health Service, and is building one of Canada's first regional electronic healthcare record systems.

Privately held Orion is aiming for revenue of about $18 million by March, with plans to grow 60 per cent in the following year.

McCrae said the company was profitable and staff numbers of about 135 would climb over the next year.

About 25 staff work in Healthlink, a subsidiary providing information services to GPs.

Orion recently received a cash injection from Canadian venture-capital firm Emerald Capital.

John Skeates was appointed to its board last week. He was president of Auckland firm Marshall Software, which was recently bought by US company NetIQ.