Oracle and Cerner begin $28.4B merger process

Oracle and Cerner have begun to integrate the two companies’ systems four months after the completion of their $28.4 billion merger 

The companies announced initial integrations at the first Oracle Cerner Health Conference, held in Kansas City, Missouri. Oracle Cerner said it plans to combine multiple streams of data into Cerner’s Millennium EHR, including Oracle’s supply chain systems, human capital management and enterprise resource planning systems. The company said it would also integrate community data sources into the EHR. 

Dr. David Feinberg, chairman of Oracle Health, called it a marriage of one of the world’s greatest technology companies with the market leader in EHRs. While Cerner is one of the largest EHR companies, it’s second to Verona, Wisconsin-based Epic Systems for EHR market share among U.S. acute-care hospitals, according to KLAS Research. 

On top of these integrations, Oracle Cerner is launching just-in-time training for staff. This software capability can identify team members who might lack experience conducting a certain procedure.  

During the event, Mike Sicilia, executive vice president, of Oracle’s global business units, said the combined venture between Oracle and Cerner can succeed where other big tech companies have failed in healthcare.  

“A lot of big tech companies have tried to fix healthcare. We think they’ve stubbed their toe because they haven’t taken on too much of the problem,” Sicilia said. “All the other changes are just incremental.”  

After the merger was finalized in June, Oracle co-founder, board chair and chief technology officer Larry Ellison laid out his plan for the combined venture. He said Oracle is building a national database of medical records so doctors can access patient information more easily. 

“This new health management system will deliver much better information to healthcare professionals,” Ellison said, citing expected improvements like better patient outcomes, more informed public policy and lower healthcare costs. “That is now our primary mission here at Oracle.” 

Ellison has also shared plans to add technologies to Cerner’s EHR platform. Oracle will encourage medical professionals to develop artificial-intelligence tools, such as algorithms to monitor specific diseases, using Cerner’s software, which could then be integrated into the EHR. 

This story first appeared in Digital Health Business & Technology.