Orion Health closes million-dollar deals in Britain, US

Auckland software firm Orion Health has notched up deals in Britain and the United States together worth several million dollars.

US firm Laboratory and BioDiagnostics (LabDx) will use Orion's Rhapsody record integration software to send laboratory data to non-hospital health providers, including GPs and private hospitals.

Britain's largest health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board, will use Rhapsody and health records software Concerto in some of its 35 hospitals and 800 other sites.

Orion marketing manager Amanda Ivanson says the Rhapsody software sells for US$50,000 to US$250,000, while implementing Concerto could cost up to US$20 million (NZ$28.4m), depending on the project's size and complexity.

LabDx had opened a new laboratory in Kentucky and is looking to take on the larger lab companies in the US, she says.

"We believe it is their intention to expand and try and be as big as their competitors, and there's the potential for us to sell more product with them as they grow."

Orion's health record software is being piloted by the Health and Social Care Board for Northern Ireland and will be trialled by the South-Eastern Norwegian Regional Health Authority later this year.

Both pilots could develop into wider rollouts worth millions of dollars, Ms Ivanson says.

Sales dipped during the recession, and uncertainty over electronic health records funding in the US had seen some organisations delay spending, but the market is picking up.

Orion expects to announce more deals with British health organisations soon, Ms Ivanson says.

Orion has about 300 staff and offices in New Zealand, the US, Australia, Europe and Canada.

US President Barack Obama has pledged to invest US$50 billion over five years "to move the US healthcare system to broad adoption of standards-based electronic health information systems, including electronic health records".

- © Fairfax NZ News