Auckland, New Zealand - 17 May 2011. Orion Health, a global, independent eHealth vendor, is anticipating another successful year ahead as demand for Electronic Health Record (EHR) solutions and health information integration continues to stimulate the company’s growth.

Closing the financial year on a high note, the company is confidently expanding its global footprint, hiring 70% more staff in the last 12 months and opening new offices in Japan, Australia, the UK, and France. 

The company’s operating revenues for the FY2010/11 are up 44% on the previous year, and on the back of recent sales and anticipated increase in project work, staff numbers across its 11 global offices have increased. It brings the company’s total staff numbers to 470. 

“Despite the challenging economic climate, we are going from strength to strength - entering new markets as well as consolidating our existing ones”, said company founder and CEO Ian McCrae. The company took out Exporter of the Year at the recent Hi-Tech Awards, along with a highly commended in Hi-Tech software product of the year for its HIE solution.

Orion Health is also well positioned to take advantage of the high levels of activity in health IT market in the USA. Orion Health President of North America, Paul Viskovich explained that the company’s experience in enterprise level and state-wide exchanges meant it was able to offer a solution that is right for a HIE in any healthcare organisation.

“We’re continually improving our software to offer the market a standardised, interoperable model for efficient Health Information Exchange. Our common functionality allows information to be easily shared securely, minimising errors and adding to the overall efficiency and workflow of a health organisation,” he said. “We continue to win large-scale regional projects in our major markets such as the HIE for the state of Alaska and southeast Louisiana in the USA”.

The healthcare market is faced with specific challenges in interoperability and integration of disparate IT systems – linked in particular to the regionalisation of public healthcare, according to Charles Scatchard, President of International at Orion Health. “As well as the high levels of activity in North America, our European, Middle East and Asia Pacific markets continue to open up – most recently one of our North Asian partners has made a sale of our Rhapsody Integration Engine to a new hospital being built in Astana, Kazakhstan,” he said.

The company’s long-term commitment to R&D is also paying off, contributing to the company’s year on year growth. “We have a history of ingenuity in New Zealand – it’s in our blood. So our software is ahead of the curve too and our customers recognise and value that. It’s one of the advantages developing in New Zealand and we’re committed to being here,” said Ian McCrae. Orion Health opened a satellite development hothouse in Christchurch earlier this year and has regular intakes of interns and graduates from the top universities in the country. 

Funding received from TechNZ, the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology (FoRST) business investment programme has enabled Orion Health to develop products like the HIE solution for the US market. 
 

 

Orion Health’s software organises a concise, historical record of patient information regardless of where the care was provided or the data resides. The company has been in this market for more nearly two decades and is now the largest independently owned supplier of health information exchange software in the world.  

Worldwide, Orion Health is implementing health information communities involving over 35 million patient lives. Over 300,000 clinicians use Orion Health software to view, manage and exchange vital patient information within 1,700 healthcare facilities in 30 countries. 

Orion Health’s partners include leading health system integrators and IT vendors such as Accenture, Initiate, and Oracle Corporation. Orion Health has more than 1,000 clients around the world including ACT Health, Hunter New England Area Health Services, and New South Wales Health in Australia, the New Zealand Ministry of Health and Auckland District Health Board, Health Infoway (Canada) and the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More information can be found at www.orionhealth.com.