iSOFT secures $17.4 million Northern Ireland agreement

By Peter Dinham
Thursday, 16 July 2009 16:05

Deals

Australian health information IT provider, iSOFT, continues its run of new contract wins over recent weeks, securing another big win, this time $17.4 million worth of multiple contract extensions for long-term support and maintenance services with Northern Ireland’s Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.

Under the agreements, iSOFT will continue to provide services until 2015 for the department’s Clinicom patient management system at all nine of the major acute hospitals in Northern Ireland that currently use company’s health information solution, and gives one of the hospitals the option to progress to iSOFT’s next-generation Lorenzo solution and to use the system until 2015.

iSOFT UK and Ireland managing director, Adrian Stevens, said that iSOFT had also agreed to support its primary care solution with 68 GP practices for a further three years, with an option to extend this contract by an additional year, in both cases with iSOFT offering new functions, some of which were specific to the health system in Northern Ireland.

Stevens says iSOFT is installing the latest version of Clinicom in the hospitals, which, he added, also have the option to add a range of software modules such as bed management and ordering of pathology tests online.

“A switch to new software is now possible after a separate project to update computer hardware to HP’s latest server technology, which will also improve performance and resilience.” 
 
According to Steven, the contracts total $2.1 million in license fees, $902,000 for services, and $14.4 million for support and maintenance, including the option to extend the primary care contract for a year. 

“This is further confirmation of iSOFT’s ability to deliver systems and benefits on a national scale, and provide our clients with a smooth transition to the latest Lorenzo technology at a lower cost.

“Northern Ireland is an important market for iSOFT, and these contracts put us in prime position to broaden our presence, offer additional services and collaborate in the highly innovative healthcare projects currently being considered.” 
  
Stevens claimed that iSOFT was the linchpin in Northern Ireland’s healthcare technology system and a “critical component in the delivery of care to all of the country’s 1.7 million people.”

“The software upgrade enables the hospitals to explore options that were previously unavailable to increase efficiency, reduce time and costs, and improve the quality of care,” Stevens said.