Oracle and Cerner’s merger could mean significant healthcare interoperability changes, or it could mean nothing at all.
Oracle’s recent acquisition of Cerner made waves in healthcare technology. Besides CVS buying Aetna and several other M&A deals, even some larger in size, it’s challenging to think of a more impactful transaction in recent history. This one feels different, and rightfully so.
Oracle is an established blue-chip technology company. Oracle has a legacy, one far older and with more breadth than the other Big Tech players. Big Tech has relentlessly tried and failed to crack the code and capitalize on the vertical healthcare industry, but most have been attempting to build, not buy. Oracle has a unique opportunity to iterate and improve on established healthcare IT solutions.
It’s undoubtedly a positive trend that so many big tech companies want to make a move in the healthcare vertical. The industry, especially from a technology standpoint, is rife with obsolesce and inefficiency, but I argue that its process and collaboration, not technology, can solve it.
Big technology doesn’t solve the problem of many healthcare providers and organizations, which is inefficient, tedious, and often manual workflow. There is no one size fits all for healthcare. There isn’t one size with some localization capabilities that fit all or one size that fits many.
Stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem need the flexibility and tools to build a custom stack of solutions and technologies that meet their nuanced and idiosyncratic needs. Big tech and cloud are great for data management and providing an environment to build AI/ML solutions, but they provide marginal benefit to the day-to-day workflows of providers.
Oracle has mastered databases, ERP, CRM, HR, Supply Chain, and hopefully, soon, EMRs. However, I only see that happening if they make it easier for other solutions to integrate and work with the medical records. So many new niche and innovative technologies fail to provide their full potential and value because the data they need is blocked. That should not be the case.
If you are interested in healthcare technology and interoperability, connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter or drop me a note at [email protected]. I am the co-founder and CEO of Intely a healthcare data and workflow platform to connect solutions, automate workflows, and unlock interoperability.
