Siemens and NextGen Healthcare Announce Strategic Alliance to Speed IT Adoption and Connectivity between Acute and Ambulatory Care Providers

MALVERN, Pa. and HORSHAM, Pa. -- Siemens Medical Solutions, a world leader in medical equipment and information technology (IT) solutions, and NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, a leading provider of ambulatory Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and practice management software, announced a worldwide strategic alliance to meet the unique healthcare IT needs of the physician practice market. This relationship leverages Siemens' expertise in enterprise IT systems and advanced medical imaging technologies for the acute care and specialty environments and NextGen Healthcare's industry leadership in ambulatory EMRs and practice management software.

Under the terms of the agreement, Siemens will add NextGen Healthcare's EMR and practice management solutions to its global solutions portfolio. The alliance further extends the value of Siemens' highly penetrated enterprise solutions by enabling Continuity of Care Record (CCR) connectivity and interoperability across acute and ambulatory care settings.

The agreement also includes worldwide distribution rights in the diagnostic imaging center (DIC) market, a fast-growing specialty market segment for Siemens imaging modalities and integrated RIS/PACS offering, SIENET Cosmos.

"The NextGen partnership complements Siemens' ambulatory strategy and enables us to support the management and retrieval of all clinical data, including diagnostic images, across the entire continuum of care," said Tom Miller, president of the IT Division at Siemens Medical Solutions. "As we continue to develop integrated solutions within the Soarian Enterprise Suite, this alliance enables Siemens to immediately deliver ambulatory solutions across the entire healthcare spectrum, providing complete solutions that meet providers' inpatient and outpatient needs."

Patrick Cline, president of NextGen Healthcare, added, "This alliance provides NextGen Healthcare with the opportunity to significantly accelerate our expansion into international markets and additional domestic markets. We're also excited about aligning with a worldwide leader to deliver interoperable solutions capable of significantly improving patient care."

As the federal government continues its push to automate and interconnect all points of the healthcare continuum, speed of technology adoption at the individual practice level and the ability to securely share clinical data and diagnostic images residing in ambulatory settings is crucial to the mission.

Currently, more than 700 physician practices representing more than 30 different specialties use NextGen Healthcare's EMR and practice management systems. Siemens' healthcare IT division delivers solutions to more than 5,000 healthcare organizations worldwide. Siemens, in combination with NextGen Healthcare's clinically rich products and services, can now offer its customers and prospects a one-stop source for electronic health records and interoperability.

In leveraging NextGen's knowledge-based templates, Siemens will provide healthcare organizations and physician practices with access to longitudinal health records, streamlined processes across acute and ambulatory settings, and opportunities for enhanced patient safety, physician satisfaction and increased procedure volume.