Dell, Perot Systems Target Electronic Medical Records

PC, server and storage vendor Dell and health care technology solution
provider Perot Systems are teaming up in a strategic alliance to take advantage
of the economic stimulus package funds earmarked for health care and available
through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Analysts and solution provider resellers have identified health care as one of
the vertical industries that is experiencing growth during the recession.
Health care will also be a major benefactor of the economic stimulus package,
and many solution providers and resellers plan to target that vertical as the
health care stimulus funds are distributed.

Specifically, the stimulus package has earmarked $17 billion in incentive
payments to physicians and hospitals to use electronic health records (EHRs).
Other stimulus funds in the sector include $2 billion for grants and loans for
health IT interoperability, regional and national EHR support, and $12 billion
for broadband, facility construction and telemedicine, according to market
research firm Gartner.

Dell and Perot Systems’ strategic alliance calls for joint delivery teams to
provide “fully integrated global IT solutions” that include technology and
services solutions such as virtualized desktops, storage and servers. 
Target clients include hospitals, health systems and doctors’ offices.

The technology companies say the solutions will be offered as either on-premises
or off-site, hosted offerings.

Dell and Perot Systems are introducing their first series of solutions for the
space at the heath care industry convention, HIMSS in Chicago. Initial
solutions will target mobile clinical computing, virtual server platforms,
virtual EHR solutions and virtual medical archive solutions.

"In the current environment, clients are seeking solutions which improve
services while reducing expenses,” Chuck Lyles, president of Perot Systems’
health care group, says in a statement issued by the company. “With the
combined capabilities of Dell and Perot systems, these virtual solutions will
increase user satisfaction and ease."

Gartner forecast growth in IT spending in 2009 for utilities, health care and
government to be 0.5 percent globally, to exceed $2.67 trillion.