Dive Brief:
-
General Electric is looking into divesting its healthcare IT business, Reuters reported.
-
GE is looking to reshape its portfolio and hopes to drop more than $20 billion of assets.
-
Reuters reported that the company’s health IT business would likely need to be broken up into multiple pieces if the company sells the business.
Dive Insight:
Healthcare is one of the business lines that GE is looking to possible divest. The company is also exploring selling its transportation business. GE’s health IT offerings include API Healthcare and Centricity EMR.
The moves come as the industrial giant looks to reshape the company and rebound from poor third-quarter numbers. During a recent earnings call, GE officials said its healthcare sector experienced a positive quarter and was up 14%. Healthcare orders were up 6% compared to a year ago. Ultrasound orders increased by 11% and imaging was up 8%. Life sciences grew 14%.
Overall, healthcare revenues in the quarter were $4.7 billion, which was a 5% improvement. Operating profit improved 14%. GE officials said it expects healthcare performance the rest of the year will mirror the third-quarter results.