GE Medical nabs EMR firm

Nobody has been filling niches as aggressively as GE Medical Systems. Last month, the company acquired electron-beam tomography pioneer Imatron, swapping each share of Imatron common stock for 0.051 shares of GE common stock (a ratio we misreported as 1:5 in the Jan. 9 issue). GE is ready to go again, having signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of MedicaLogic, a provider of electronic medical record (EMR) systems for outpatients. This time GE is paying cash: $20 million. The company plans to couple MedicaLogic's EMR products with its new Centricity Clinical Information System, thereby providing a comprehensive, end-to-end medical information product that links hospitals, clinics, and physician offices. Incorporating MedicaLogic's installed base is an important first step. Its products are in hundreds of hospitals and affiliated doctors' offices in the U.S. where they are used by more than 16,000 physicians, according to GE.

Centricity is being showcased as a premier component of the Indiana Heart Hospital, a $60 million, 210,000-square-foot facility now being constructed in Indianapolis. The hospital, which is due to open December 2002, will utilize Centricity to capture, route, and present EMR. The system will promote a paperless, filmless, and wireless environment, eliminating medical record storage rooms, paper charting areas, and central nursing stations.