To prepare for population health management, electronic health-record developer Cerner Corp. is spending $1.3 billion to purchase Siemens Health Services, the health information technology business of Germany's Siemens AG, Cerner announced last week.
The newly combined company will have $4.5 billion in annual revenue and will invest $650 million annually in research and development, Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner said. Its client base will include 18,000 facilities in the U.S. and Germany.
The deal also calls for Cerner and Siemens to form a strategic alliance to “bring new solutions to market that combine Cerner's health IT leadership and Siemens' strengths in medical devices and imaging,” the Cerner announcement said.
“The alliance we're creating will drive the next generation of innovations that embed information from the (EHR) inside advanced diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, benefitting our shared clients,” said Neal Patterson, Cerner's CEO.
The two companies plan to invest $50 million each in the alliance, which will have a three-year initial term and market worldwide, Cerner said, adding that the acquisition would help position the firm for the “post-meaningful-use era.”
Siemens Health Services' experience with revenue-cycle management products could help Cerner evolve with the healthcare IT market's need for such offerings.
Follow John N. Frank on Twitter: @MHJFrank
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