Cerner's new deal with Texas' Midland Memorial Hospital and affiliated clinics is emblematic of the company’s growth, and an example of why Cerner expects to see even more in the coming years. Midland Health will implement Cerner's Millennium EHR, in addition to its HealtheIntent platform and comprehensive Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) services.
As with all Cerner solutions, the goal is to give a more holistic view of the individual patient and population to clinicians, while also making it easier for the patients themselves to interact with the their healthcare providers. Once implementation is complete, Midland Memorial Hospital patients will be able to schedule appointments, view clinic results, and obtain their own personal health information through an easily accessible online portal.
Midland Memorial's 474-bed hospital, along with the community clinics, will all be converted from disparate IT systems into Cerner's integrated digital platform.
The revenue cycle management aspect of Cerner's platform was of particular interest to Stephen Bowerman, CFO of Midland Health.
“When considering which supplier would best support Midland Health, we were focused on specific important capabilities. We required a modern, effective, and robust solution for our clinicians and patients, a system that would provide clinical visibility between the physician practice and acute care setting and, lastly, a revenue cycle that was integrated with the EHR,” said Bowerman.
“In Cerner, we found a health IT system that could not only meet our needs today, but could provide population health management capabilities for the future, all with the confidence of a predictable total cost of ownership.”
While Cerner's third quarter revenue for fiscal year 2016 came in just under expectations, CEO Zane Burke said he doesn’t expect it to hamper Cerner’s market growth.
“Our competitiveness remains strong and has been bolstered by over $2 billion of investments in research and development over the past four years. We believe these investments have strengthened our clinical, revenue cycle and population health solutions, and position us for strong growth going forward."
The RCM market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.89% during the four year period of 2016-2020, and is predicted to reach a value of $40 billion by 2020. Because of expected changes in Medicare reimbursement, coupled with solid market growth as a whole, Burke believes more and more clients will be drawn to Cerner's IT and RCM services as “they are going to have a need to be able to measure and monitor a number of different metrics and to begin to prepare for that.”
With Cerner's clinically-driven RCM portfolio, clients are able to better to utilize their Cerner EHR by automating traditional revenue cycles. The RCM service is designed to optimize workflow needs of today, while also looking ahead to future needs. By connecting front and back office workflow and integrating process with people and technology, clients can efficiently meet changing organizational metrics while ultimately controlling the cost-to-collect. Helping the bottom line while simultaneously delivering better service to the population is never a bad result.
The e-Prescribing sector is another area of growth for Cerner. The company is positioned to be a major player in the e-Prescribing industry as federal and local governments continue their EHR modernization effort. E-Prescribing is a feature already available and widely used within Cerner's integrated healthcare IT platforms.
As more hospitals and healthcare providers implement EHR systems, the e-Prescribing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 23.5% through 2019. The North American market is forecast to be the fastest rising region in the world, with hospitals and clinics racing to meet the demands of a constantly evolving healthcare infrastructure.
Want to learn more about what it takes to enter a career in healthcare IT consulting? Download our free guide Healthcare Consulting 101: Understanding the Four Types of Healthcare Consultants for more information.