Orion Health

In March 2010, US President Barack Obama signed off healthcare reforms, including a dramatic boost to the use of Health Information Technology (HIT) such as electronic health records.

Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, payments and incentives worth US$19 billion will be available for US health providers to adopt and implement HIT.

This is recognition of the ability of technology, such as Orion Health's clinical workflow and integration products to, in the words of President Obama, "cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes and help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars each year".

Most countries throughout the world are wrestling with similar issues.

The RAND Corporation calculated in 2005 that HIT could save the US health system up to US$162 billion annually by improving the way medical care is managed. It also estimated that only 15-20 percent of US physician offices had adopted some version of an electronic medical record (EMR) system.

About the same time, thanks to technology supplied by companies like Orion Health, 95 percent of New Zealand physicians used EMR systems and about 80 percent reported receiving information back from almost all of their patient referrals.

This high uptake, along with the early adoption of HIT in New Zealand, has provided a strong development platform - and a competitive advantage - for New Zealand HIT offerings in global markets, says Orion Health CEO, Ian McCrae.

He says New Zealand HIT companies also have an advantage over other international health application solution providers as they are not burdened by legacy systems that have to be managed and maintained.

"Orion Health is extremely well placed to take advantage of the US Government's HIT package, which many in the industry believe to be their greatest opportunity ever," says McCrae.

Worldwide, information on 35 million patients is available to healthcare workers through Orion Health's clinical workflow and integration technology.

Clients include top US medical centre the Lahey Clinic, the UCLA Medical Center, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and several of the United Kingdom's NHS Trust hospitals.

Orion Health's Rhapsody™ Integration Engine helps the New York State Department of Health to process Medicaid claims from health providers throughout New York State. The department handles an estimated nine million separate claims from hospital discharges each year.

Orion Health, which generates around $40 million in sales annually, is among the top 100 healthcare IT companies in the US, as ranked by Healthcare Informatics.

The company is in expansion mode in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.