Malay public hospitals invest $5.24 mn in IT

SYDNEY:  An agreement has been signed to provide software licenses and support services for iSOFT’s eHIS solution at the Kepala Batas Hospital in Penang, the Lahad Datu Hospital in Sabah, and Serdang Hospital in the state of Selangor.

iSoft, which is Listed as a health information technology company in Australia, has signed a contract with Systematic Conglomerate, a Kuala Lumpur-based prime contractor, for licensing and services at three of the nine Malaysian public hospitals that use iSOFT’s hospital information system.

The contract initially is worth RM 18.5 million (A$ 6.5 million) (US$ 5.24m) over five years, with potential revenues of up to RM 33 million (A$ 11.5 million) (US$ 9.27m) should the hospitals take up an option to extend the services agreement for an additional three years, as it shares in a press note.

The five-year support and maintenance agreement for Serdang started in January this year, while agreements for Kepala Batas and Lahad Datu began in January 2008.

Systematic Conglomerate was awarded the contract by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry is also expected to finalize, by June 2010, contracts for the remaining six hospitals that currently use iSOFT’s eHIS solution, worth an estimated RM 52 million (A$ 18 million) (US$ 14.50m).