Oracle has a long history of expanding into new markets by making strategic acquisitions – Siebel Systems, PeopleSoft, Hyperion, NetSuite, and Sun Microsystems come to mind. The latest move by Oracle, an agreement to purchase Cerner Corporation is one for the record books – literally. It surpasses any of the aforementioned acquisitions at a whopping $28.3 billion in equity value.
Larry Ellison, Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, at Oracle was quoted as saying “Working together, Cerner and Oracle have the capacity to transform healthcare delivery by providing medical professionals with better information—enabling them to make better treatment decisions resulting in better patient outcomes.”
A Strident Commitment to Healthcare
Cerner, the second-largest health technology vendor in the electronic medical record (EMR) space, creates a unique opportunity for Oracle to gain market share in the healthcare vertical quickly, and to grow its footprint in the cloud computing space. There are other options this acquisition creates as well – for example, tighter integration between the EHR and Oracle’s ERP, supply chain and human capital management solutions, and the ability to further hone these integrated capabilities to the needs of providers and integrated delivery networks in the future.
The acquisition also provides a big stride forward in reducing the burden on overworked clinicians, in terms of the time spent on the computer keyboard. Oracle has a voice digital assistant, a hands-free interface with Cerner’s clinical applications, which promises significant efficiency improvements.
According to Oracle, “Cerner will be organized as a dedicated Industry Business Unit within Oracle and will be Oracle’s anchor asset to expand into healthcare and together we will improve medical care for individuals and communities around the world.”
The announcement is being met with a lot of optimism. A contributing writer in the healthcare space for Forbes stated, “Indeed, although Oracle has always provided numerous services in the healthcare space, this latest move indicates a very deliberate and intentional commitment to clinical medicine. With the market share and brand recognition both companies boast, this deal between Oracle and Cerner has significant promise to change the face of healthcare.”
As a digital consultancy in healthcare and as an Oracle partner, we are excited about a future where we support our clients that use Cerner. Perficient Chief Strategist of Healthcare, Juliet Silver, points to ways our industry, platform, and digital expertise can better position clients who want to migrate to the cloud and optimize core clinical processes and workflows, secure and harness data, and integrate Oracle financials, supply chain, performance management, and human capital management systems with the Cerner EHR.
Stuart Massey who leads the Oracle ERP team at Perficient said, “Perficient is enthusiastic about Cerner becoming part of Oracle given our strong focus on healthcare. This will allow us to further integrate our Oracle healthcare clients into the cloud application space.”
Contact us to learn how our healthcare and Oracle experts can help you accelerate outcomes and deliver better care experiences.
