Cerner has appointed Brent Shafer its new CEO and chairman of the board of directors. He'll begin in the roles on February 1.
Shafer comes to Cerner from Philips North America, where he has been CEO since February 2014. Vitor Rocha will succeed him there.
Before ascending to CEO at Philips, Shafer was CEO of Philips Home Healthcare Solutions. Previously, Shafer spent time at GE Medical Systems and Hewlett-Packard.
"He is committed to innovation, with extensive knowledge of health care, technology and consumer markets and an exceptional skill set that complements Cerner's strong leadership team," said Cerner co-founder Cliff Illig, who's been serving as interim CEO since co-founder Neal Patterson died in July 2017.
Over his nearly four decades at the helm of Cerner, Patterson talked to Illig and others about who should succeed him, leaving open whether that person would come from within or outside the company, according to a blog post by Illig.
"Brent is an approachable leader and effective communicator who has a clear understanding of where healthcare needs to go," Illig wrote in the post.
