Orion Health to purchase Microsoft's HIS; will co-market HIE

Orion Health and Microsoft have signed two agreements in the field of e-health. In Asia Pacific, wholly owned subsidiary Orion Health Asia Pacific, has signed an agreement to purchase Microsoft’s hospital information system (HIS) software assets, including RIS/PACS, previously known as Amalga HIS. The two parties also have signed a memorandum of understanding outlining their intent to co-market their health information exchange (HIE) and data aggregation and analysis products—Orion Health HIE and Microsoft Amalga Unified Intelligence System—to the public and private HIE and integrated delivery network markets.

Orion will sell and market the HIS and RIS/PACS software as Orion Health HPM (Health Process Management) suite. The Microsoft HIS and RIS/PACS products were marketed in Southeast Asia under the brand name Amalga HIS and Amalga RIS/PACS until July 2010, when Microsoft discontinued development and sales of the products. Microsoft continues to develop and market Amalga Unified Intelligence System, a data aggregation and analysis platform.

Orion intends to use the acquisition of Microsoft’s HIS assets to continue expanding its engineering organization. The Thailand HIS development operation will be Orion’s fourth development center, the others being Auckland, Christchurch and Canberra, said Orion's CEO Ian McCrae. It also will provide the company with a base from which to expand its Southeast Asian organization.

The collaboration between Microsoft and Orion will enable public and private HIEs and integrated delivery networks to deploy Orion’s HIE and workflow technologies alongside the data aggregation, analytics and reporting capabilities of Microsoft Amalga Unified Intelligence System. The combination of the technologies will enable HIEs and integrated delivery networks to view and report on various individual and population patient data.