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 £11.5 billion in incentive payments to physicians and hospitals to use electronic health records (EHRs). Other stimulus funds in the sector include £1.4 billion for grants and loans for health IT interoperability, regional and national EHR support, and £8 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 £1.8 trillion.