CSC Signs Healthcare Partnerships
Having stiffed Computer Associates
at the Acquisition Ball,
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC, El Segundo, CA) has moved back into business-as-usual mode with two partnerships targeting the healthcare market. Through a deal with
Healtheon (Palo Alto, CA), the two companies will develop and market Internet-based applications to help healthcare organizations manage work flows and exchange information. At the core of this alliance is a Virtual Healthcare Network which will initially consist of Healtheon's transaction-based applications. The network will "create the new services hospitals, physicians and health plans need to communicate better," said Healtheon CEO Mike Long. The deal represents "a major step in our long-range goal to revolutionize healthcare administration."
A separate deal with Helix Health (Lutherville, MD) will give CSC its first outsourcing contract in the healthcare market. The deal is worth an estimated $70 million over 10 years; Helix expects to recoup $42 million of that over the same 10-year period. The agreement calls for CSC to develop an automated purchasing, warehousing and distribution system for area hospitals. CSC will set up its own automated distribution network in Baltimore that will integrate and support five community hospitals that formerly operated separate purchasing and distribution systems. Purchases flowing through the system currently total an estimated $200 million a year. The deal will not only result in bottom-line savings, says Helix president and CEO Michael Merson, but also "a strengthened focus on what matters most to us: the highest quality care for our patients." Teaming with CSC's Healthcare Group gave Helix insight into what its core and non-core business functions were, according to Arthur Spiegel, president of CSC's Healthcare Group. "The decision to strategically source a non-core function like supply chain stemmed naturally from the effort Helix first put into reengineering."