Orion Health expands Christchurch operations

Orion Health expands Christchurch operations

New Zealand-owned global health software company Orion Health opened its first
Christchurch office in Hazeldean Business Park with only a few staff just three weeks before the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Today the Minister for Communications Information Technology Amy Adams will officially open the company’s new office after a significant renovation to accommodate the company’s current team of 64, including software developers, implementation consultants, health professionals and support staff. Orion Health is committed to grow to over 100 staff within the next 12 months.

Orion Health’s Christchurch team continue to focus on projects under the company’s strategic partnership with Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) and contract with the South Island Health Alliance comprising the five South Island district health boards (DHBs).

Orion Health CEO Ian McCrae says Orion Health is committed to helping CDHB achieve its vision of an integrated community-based health care that keeps people healthy in their own homes by providing appropriate care and support.

CDHB Chief Medical Officer Dr Nigel Millar says together with Pegasus Health and CDHB, Orion Health has been instrumental in creating secure patient information systems that enable Canterbury clinicians to deliver safer, more effective and faster healthcare.

“Integration is key to our seemingly simple goal of wasting less of people’s time and Orion Health has helped us make great strides in that direction.”

Mr McCrae says in the three years since opening its first Christchurch office the company has become deeply engaged in the Canterbury community. It has:

• Formed a wide-ranging strategic partnership with CDHB to advance healthcare
technology innovation

• Contracted with the South Island Alliance to improve information services and
efficiencies for the five South Island DHBs

• Launched Codeworx, a computer coding competition, into schools in Canterbury and nationwide

• Donated $100,000 of scholarships to the University of Canterbury to encourage more students to study information science

• Completed the first development phase of an electronic Shared Care Record View that enables Canterbury hospital clinicians, GPs, pharmacists and community carers to view patient records at the point of care The Christchurch office is a driving force behind the on-going development of Orion Health’s

Enterprise electronic health record (EHR). This hospital management solution is important to the South Island and is also generating export revenues with sales into premier hospitals in Asia and Europe. The ability for innovative product development to occur closely with customers is helping to differentiate the solution in overseas markets and make it a success.

“The decision to continue to make significant investments in Christchurch, is an easy one,” says Mr McCrae.

He says Orion Health is committed to providing staff pleasant and productive working environments they can be proud of. “Our new Christchurch office has been redeveloped in a campus style that suits our company culture. It is airy, has plenty of open spaces, and break-out rooms and, as you might expect, state of the art information and communications technology.

“We believe our new Christchurch office represents a very desirable model for the New Zealand economy: Highly skilled, well paid people in great work environments developing innovative products and delivering quality services that can be used here in New Zealand as well as exported all around the world.”

Ends

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