Cerner, the Kansas City-based electronic health record (EHR) vendor, inked a reported 14-year, $400 million deal with Georgia Regents Health System to take over all of the organization’s health IT services.
Georgia Regents Health System, which is comprised of two hospitals, expects to save 15 percent in projected costs over the life of the contract, according to The Augusta Chronicle. Much of this is due to the fact that Cerner will provide remote hosting of the organization’s EHR. It will also add enhanced monitoring and system capabilities, as part of the agreement.
The move will affect 132 people who work at the health system. Many will be offered positions with Cerner, starting Sept. 29, and others will be allowed to retire early.
“As the state’s only public academic health center, we must contend with continued federal mandates to improve the quality of care while also lowering costs. These challenges have encouraged us to search for creative and innovative solutions that maximize efficiencies and control costs,” Ricardo Azziz, CEO of Georgia Regents Health System, said in a statement. “This exciting agreement with Cerner will allow us to keep pace with change, manage costs and accelerate our position as a leading health care provider.”
From Cerner’s perspective, the deal will allow the vendor to integrate with Philips Healthcare, an Andover, Mass.-based IT vendor, which made a similar deal with Georgia Regents in 2013. According to The Augusta Chronicle, this is what interested Cerner most in making the deal.
