MS NZ flogs digital health arm to locals

Upending the natural order, New Zealand software company Orion has acquired a suite of health products that had been marketed under the Amalga brand, for an undisclosed sum.

Microsoft’s Hospital Information Systems, along with its PACs (Picture Archiving and Communication) and RIS (Radiology Information System) will now become part of Auckland-based Orion, to be marketed as its Health Process Management suite.

The deal also involves an agreement to jointly market health solutions in the Asia Pacific.

Last year, Microsoft had announced that it would halt new development on the systems now bought by Orion. It retains – and continues development of – an analysis package, Amalga Unified Intelligence System (UIS), which is also part of the co-marketing agreement.

Orion also takes on 50 former Microsoft staff, and says it will expand its development efforts in Thailand, Auckland, Christchurch, and Canberra. The company is part of the Accenture-led consortium developing Australia’s e-health records solution, and has won contracts in the US and Singapore in its own right or as part of consortium bids. ®