This appeared last week:
Telstra Health explains its $350m MedicalDirector purchase
The move comes as GP software vendors eye the wonders of the cloud
1st November 2021
By Paul Smith
Recent times have seen a devaluation of big numbers to the point where you have to remind yourself that dollar figures with nine digits remain a big deal.
Back in August, Telstra Health revealed it was buying MedicalDirector, reportedly for a cool $350,000,000.
The subsidiary of Australia’s biggest telco has been a presence in the health system for some time now and it had previously shown interest in MedicalDirector before — at least until it was snapped up by private equity a few years ago.
But its purchase is still a big splash into general practice.
So why does medical prescribing software, the mechanism underpinning so much of a GP’s clinical life that it can often be overlooked, attract that level of big business interest?
Professor Mary Foley is managing director of Telstra Health. She arrived four years ago following a distinguished career which included a long stint as director general and secretary of health for NSW.
“We want to look at how we can support general practice to better connect with the rest of this health system, given that general practice is a linchpin in the delivery of health care across the country,” she told Australian Doctor shortly after the buyout was announced to the media.
She talks about her company’s “deep, deep knowledge and expertise” of health IT across pharmacy, hospitals, aged care and Aboriginal medical services.
“We are hoping to connect across those domains and learn across those domains so that we can deliver innovation faster.”
MedicalDirector’s general practice footprint remains significant, although there has been a vigorous debate about the extent to which it has been eclipsed by its rival Best Practice, the other software vendor Telstra Health once considered buying.
Professor Foley doesn’t explicitly outline the commercial opportunities she sees. She wants to consult with MedicalDirector staff.
But she says the cost-benefit calculations were straightforward in terms of identifying returns.
“On top of that, any acquiring organisation will say that if a business is part of us, what else is the value we can see from it,” she added.
But various commercial opportunities do get touted when it comes to any GP practice software.
MedicalDirector is the sort of product, it is argued, that could be exported overseas to the bigger and lucrative UK market, possibly even the El Dorado that exists for any vendor that succeeds in the US.
Professor Foley is quick to stress that general practice in Australia has been at the “vanguard of digitalization in health”, not just in this country, but compared to countries around the world.
The industry commentators will also refer to the masses of de-identified data generated by prescribing software. It creates an unprecedented picture of the health system - its success and failures.
And pharma is also keen to track the post marketing fate of its products, both in terms of their clinical and market impact. As such all software has value.
And then there is that idea, which seems close to Professor Foley’s vision, of healing the communication fractures.
It is worth stressing the scale of GP consults in the nexus of care. Based on Telstra Health's numbers, MedicalDirector's software is used to deliver more than 80 million consults a year, supporting the practice of 23,000 medical practitioners.
Lots more here:
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/telstra-health-explains-its-350m-medicaldirector-purchase
It is clear that Telstra Health understands the General Practice is a key gateway to the health system in OZ and having one of the central applications that is widely used in that sector can only improve their influence and penetration in the overall Digital Health domain in Australia.
With this purchase Telstra Health will be able to offer connectivity to is applications in other areas such as aged and community care as will as its secure messaging solution.
There is also the possibility of offering some package solutions in the GP space to simplify and support GP operations etc.
I am not sure about the price paid and – while Telstra has deep pockets – I am not sure if they will turn a profit on the deal – time will tell. Strategically it seems like a good move!
David.
6 comments:
Telstra is a telco. What value added service have they ever made a go of? What business do they understand better than those actually in the business?
Telstra is a Telco? Yes that was the Telstra business model for many moons. Like all national Telco’s they have sold off aspects to the open market and diversified, I was in the UK when BT shed large parts of its traditional services, it shifted to content “or new media” as it was termed at the time. I recall after a few years it made more from new services than previously from its aging copper voice network.
Being able to operate a global telco business probably makes them more qualified to tackle interoperability than most and certainly and state or federal department
so what "new media" business is Telstra in now? They had a partnership with Foxtel that seems to have withered away.
A global telco business is still just a telco
Telstra appear to be following the same path as Canadian telco "Telus Health".
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/04/28/2218724/0/en/TELUS-Health-launches-next-evolution-of-its-national-employer-focused-Virtual-Care-service.html
Telstra now have a close relationship with Telus Health.
https://www.telstrahealth.com/content/telstrahealth/en/home/media-and-events/TELUS-Health-Exchange-International-platform-Australia.html
Interesting strategic partnership.
"As Australia’s largest health software and technology provider, it’s important that we’re able to connect health information, clinicians, and consumers through cutting-edge technology that is fully managed, and is as secure, reliable and as safe as possible."
Yet another solution that will "connect health information, clinicians, and consumers"
Assuming Telstra delivers such a thing in Australia and Victoria gets theirs off the ground that will be at least three attempts in Australia
Looks like more fragmentation, not less.
Oh well, at least it creates jobs. A bit like a sheltered workshop.
So boiled down it is connecting people and services together, a B2C information technology. Pretty standard thing these days. As no real effort is made at the semantic layer, why is it the when the word health is used the system costs 10 fold more than a similar information system elsewhere?
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