by In its quarterly earnings release earlier this month, Oracle Corporation reported its second quarter 2023 results indicating that “revenue increased 18% year over year in USD terms and 25% in constant currency terms to $12.3 billion.” are”. This is an amazing achievement, especially in the context and backdrop of economic uncertainty and recessionary headwinds. Notably, Cerner contributed $1.5 billion to total sales, which it describes as a significant source of sustained profit.
Cerner is a leading electronic health record (EHR) company with a variety of healthcare management and data offerings and services. Late last year, Oracle bought Cerner for nearly $28 billion, an amount that was both celebrated and cautiously praised. For many, the sticker price was incredibly high. But Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison was clear in his vision for the acquisition: “By working together, Cerner and Oracle have the ability to transform healthcare by providing better information to healthcare professionals and enabling them to make better treatment decisions.” to make better treatment decisions, leading to better patient outcomes.”
In this month’s press release, Ellison was equally emphatic about his goals and vision for Cerner and for Oracle’s overall progress in healthcare. He explained, “Since the acquisition, Cerner has helped Oracle grow—and Oracle has helped Cerner improve its technology […] But we are only at the beginning of our mission to modernize healthcare information systems. In the wake of the COVID pandemic, there is a sense of urgency around the world to transform and improve national healthcare systems. Our goals are ambitious: to fully automate clinical trials to reduce the time it takes to give patients life-saving new medicines, give physicians easy access to better information that leads to better patient outcomes, and public health professionals to provide an early warning system that locates and identifies new pathogens in time to prevent the next pandemic. The scale of this opportunity is unprecedented – and so is the responsibility that comes with it.”
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Larry, Oracle’s Executive Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer … [+]
The entire tech industry wants a part of the digital health and health information landscape as healthcare increasingly turns to innovation to solve some of its toughest problems. Essential technology companies like Cerner offer robust value – not only in terms of advanced data and information processing to enable better clinical care, but also in their ability to constantly innovate.
Other tech giants, similar to Oracle, have started to capitalize on this opportunity. Take Google, for example, which continues to offer an incredibly diverse suite of healthcare technology solutions. The company’s recent initiative with Google Cloud Healthcare Data Engine is poised to become one of the strongest forces in healthcare data management and will no doubt be game changer.
Notably, smaller organizations are also working to innovate in this space, from startups to analytics boutiques. These organizations use data and unique insights to drive better clinical outcomes. Take Komodo Health for example. The company has leveraged its technology to create its Healthcare Map software, which offers a survey of “330 million patients, 15 million new clinical encounters daily, and 150 million complete payer profiles.” This translates to “75% overlap with 350 hospitals and a 96% overlap with 11 billion lab records [which] provide unparalleled insight into the patient journey.”
Another notable company is Flatiron Health, which has created a robust suite of services and technologies with a focus on oncology, life sciences, and hospital systems. The company has grown tremendously in recent years, drawing on insights from “more than 3 million patient records available,” of which “75% are from group practices, [and] 25% come from academic cancer centers.”
Hence, it is evident that this space is fast becoming one of the most coveted opportunities for technology companies and organizations worldwide. In the next ten years many more companies will certainly invest and innovate in this area. Technology professionals and healthcare organizations are challenged to embrace this innovation to not only stay relevant but also best serve their communities.
