Dive Brief:
- EHR vendor Cerner has announced the completion its $1.3-billion acquisition of Siemens Health Services in a move intended to advance EHR interoperability and encourage health IT research and development. Cerner said it will still support and develop Siemens products, most notably the Soarian EHR platform, which is expected to contribute to $5 billion in global earnings for Cerner in 2015.
- Each organization expects to contribute up to $50 million during the initial three-year period, with a combined first goal of integrating diagnostics and therapeutics (via Siemens' device and imaging knowledge) into EHRs (Cerner's area of expertise).
- Former CEO of Siemens Health Services John Glaser has joined Cerner as a senior vice president and member of the company's executive cabinet. In his new role, Glaser will support former Siemens Health Services clients as they transition to Cerner.
Dive Insight:
Cerner's big Siemens Health Services acquisition will enable the Missouri-based vendor to take on Epic, which is still dominant in the hospital EHR marketplace. The move is also good for clients of either vendor because it will help advance interoperability among all Cerner and Siemens EHR users. Finally, it's a win for Siemens, as more than one analyst has pointed out the vendor's struggles with the launch of its Soarian EHR product. With Cerner as a parent company, clients will likely get a higher level of health IT support and stay happy with their investment.
Still, some analysts have their doubts that the partnership will produce the benefits it claims:
"While Cerner states that the combined organization will allow them to more effectively go after interoperability and population health, neither of these areas is a particular strength of either company/product set today and are strengths of Epic," said John Campbell, CHCIO, CIO at Spaulding Rehabilitation Network, at the time of the deal announcement in August. "Therefore, the marketing message is they will fill these gaps but they have a lot of catching up to do."