CSC’s iSoft Acquisition Boosts Its Health Care IT Software Portfolio

CSC, an IT integrator and cloud service provider, is looking to expand its health care, software and research portfolios by acquiring Australia-based iSoft for $188 million. The deal also means that CSC can now offer more IT services to several different markets.

The deal, which CSC announced April 1, must now wait for approval from Australian and European Union regulatory authorities. The deal is expected to close during the second quarter of the 2012 fiscal year.

In addition to cloud computing services and now health care IT services, CSC offers outsourcing services that provide system design and integration, Web and application hosting and management consulting.

“The combination of these companies will further establish CSC as an innovative leader in global health care IT,” CSC CEO Michael W. Laphen said in a statement. “Through our combined experience in global health care delivery, complementary world-class health care software solutions and enhanced capabilities in system integration, outsourcing and process management, we are forming a compelling life cycle of services to better serve our global clients and improve patient care.”

One of the world’s largest developers of health care IT applications, iSoft has a software portfolio that includes Patient Management, an EHR (electronic health record) application that allows providers to track patient flow and progress from admission to discharge.

iSoft also offers applications to help health care IT corporate decision-making.

Meanwhile, iSoft Clinical Management offers decision support for physicians and clinicians and allows them to track patients’ data around the clock in real time.

More than 13,000 provider organizations in over 40 countries use iSoft’s applications to track patient data and improve health care workflows. In addition, iSoft’s applications are installed in more than 8,000 hospitals worldwide, CSC reports.

“iSoft’s electronic health record software and services, coupled with CSC’s global health care expertise and delivery capabilities, will create a very powerful force in the global health care market to enhance the provision of integrated care,” iSoft CEO Andrea Fiumicelli, CEO, said in a statement. “This is a great development for iSoft’s employees, as they will have the opportunity to continue their important work in health care IT whilst developing their careers across CSC’s global business.”

Under the deal, CSC plans to expand to new and emerging markets, with iSoft running research and development centers in India, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Central Europe.

“When completed, this acquisition will be a critical step in the expansion of our global health care business,” Laphen added. “CSC will be at the forefront of emerging health care technologies, giving our clients access to an expanded range of health care capabilities and continuing our journey of bringing the vision of a single patient record to life.”

CSC and iSoft have been collaborating on the UK national health technology platform and have faced long delays in rolling out iSoft’s Lorenzo clinical software. Lorenzo is an EHR application serving the UK and Ireland market.

Due to delays, the UK Department of Health had considered scrapping its contract with CSC, ZDNet UK reports.