ISOFT
Encyclopedia
iSOFT is an international supplier of software applications for the healthcare sector. Its products are used by an estimated 13,000 organisations in 40 countries for managing patient information and healthcare services. Its headquarters are in Sydney
, Australia
.
iSOFT was founded in 1996 as a business group within accounting group, KPMG and bought out of the Group in 1999. In 2000, iSOFT had a successful listing on the London Stock Exchange.
iSOFT became part of the IBA Health Group following a merger completed in October 2007. The IBA Health Group has since changed its name to iSOFT Group to build on the goodwill associated with one of the world's leading health IT brands, iSOFT. iSOFT announced on 24 March 2011 that trading in its shares would be suspended pending a corporate announcement. Subsequently on 4 April, the company announced that it was recommending a cash offer from CSC
.
newspaper saw a confidential report suggesting questionable accounting practices in iSOFT tracing back to 2002. iSOFT sought and obtained an injunction against the paper preventing publication of the story, and a Parliamentary Written Question was answered by the government saying that they had no plans to look into the matter.
The leaked confidential report had been commissioned prior to a merger between itself and its rival Torex and had raised sufficient concerns within Torex that it was only rescued by the personal assurance of Sir Digby Jones, then Director-General of the CBI and non-executive director of iSOFT.
Following profits warnings in January 2006 and June 2006 due to changes in its accounting policy, the resignation of its chief executive, the announcement of losses of £344m for the year to April 2006, extensive delays to its already overdue LORENZO product and the pulling out of one its two main customers, Accenture
, from the NHS government contract in September, and the opening of an investigation by the Financial Services Authority
, the gagging order against the newspaper was lifted in October.
In January 2010, the FSA confirmed that they had begun legal proceedings against the four directors
who were involved in the irregularities. In March, the AADB excluded Ian Storey, former financial controller, from membership of his professional body ICAEW.
, one of iSOFT's three early adopters abandoned plans to wait for delivery of LORENZO and opted to return to i.Clinical Manager's heritage product and deployed Sunrise Clinical Manager from Eclipsys instead.
In November 2009, the government admitted that despite the challenges a handful of sites had gone live with Lorenzo, although there were only 174 regular users.http://www.e-health-insider.com/News/5341/lorenzo_has_just_174_'regular_users' A week later, Gary Cohen claimed that LORENZO would be live at 25 trusts in 2010,http://www.e-health-insider.com/News/5376/cohen:_25_trusts_to_get_lorenzo_in_2010 despite the history of problems.
Less than three months later, NHS trusts trying to install Lorenzo reported delays or deferred the installation of Lorenzo.http://www.e-health-insider.com/News/5556/lorenzo_-_slow_progress_at_morecambe_bayhttp://www.e-health-insider.com/news/5583/pennine_care_delays_lorenzo_r1.9http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/5598/east_midlands_defers_lorenzo_deployments
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
iSOFT was founded in 1996 as a business group within accounting group, KPMG and bought out of the Group in 1999. In 2000, iSOFT had a successful listing on the London Stock Exchange.
iSOFT became part of the IBA Health Group following a merger completed in October 2007. The IBA Health Group has since changed its name to iSOFT Group to build on the goodwill associated with one of the world's leading health IT brands, iSOFT. iSOFT announced on 24 March 2011 that trading in its shares would be suspended pending a corporate announcement. Subsequently on 4 April, the company announced that it was recommending a cash offer from CSC
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
.
Accountancy irregularities
In the summer of 2004 the GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper saw a confidential report suggesting questionable accounting practices in iSOFT tracing back to 2002. iSOFT sought and obtained an injunction against the paper preventing publication of the story, and a Parliamentary Written Question was answered by the government saying that they had no plans to look into the matter.
The leaked confidential report had been commissioned prior to a merger between itself and its rival Torex and had raised sufficient concerns within Torex that it was only rescued by the personal assurance of Sir Digby Jones, then Director-General of the CBI and non-executive director of iSOFT.
Following profits warnings in January 2006 and June 2006 due to changes in its accounting policy, the resignation of its chief executive, the announcement of losses of £344m for the year to April 2006, extensive delays to its already overdue LORENZO product and the pulling out of one its two main customers, Accenture
Accenture
Accenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of September 2011, the company had more than 236,000 employees across...
, from the NHS government contract in September, and the opening of an investigation by the Financial Services Authority
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
, the gagging order against the newspaper was lifted in October.
In January 2010, the FSA confirmed that they had begun legal proceedings against the four directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
who were involved in the irregularities. In March, the AADB excluded Ian Storey, former financial controller, from membership of his professional body ICAEW.
Sale of company
- In October 2006 iSOFT put itself up for sale.
- On 23 January 2007, the sale of iSOFT started to move forward, with three companies being shortlisted as bidders for the company. The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper listed U.S. healthcare IT providers CernerCernerCerner Corporation is an international health care information technology corporation that specializes in providing complete systems for hospitals and other medical organizations to manage and integrate all electronic medical records, computerized physician order entry , and financial...
and McKesson Corporation, as well as U.S. private equity company General AtlanticGeneral AtlanticGeneral Atlantic is a private equity investment firm. The firm invests through growth capital injections, control buyouts, industry consolidations, build-ups, recapitalizations, and PIPEs...
as the three companies looking at a package of around £200m to purchase iSOFT. - On 16 May 2007, iSOFT announced its recommendation to accept a merger with Australian company IBA Health in an all-stock deal.
- On 6 June 2007, Computer Sciences CorporationComputer Sciences CorporationComputer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
said it was not excluding the possibility of a CSC bid for iSOFT. - On 6 July 2007, iSOFT shareholders voted in favour of the IBA Health offer.
- On 20 July 2007, CompuGROUP made an eleventh hour offer. iSOFT directors considered this proposal and concluded that the offer represented better value to iSOFT shareholders than the IBA offer. More details here.
- On 21 August 2007, IBA made a revised offer and the iSOFT board recommended acceptance by shareholders. CompuGROUP said in response that it would not be increasing its own offer.
- On 31 October 2007, IBA completed acquisition of iSOFT.
Software problems
iSOFT's flagship product LORENZO has been dogged by a number of issues mainly centred on delays to delivery schedules and questions over its suitability for the purpose it was intended. As a result of continuous delays and quality issues, SinghealthSingHealth
SingHealth is Singapore's largest group of healthcare institutions. The group was formed in 2000 and consists of three public hospitals across the island, five specialist centres and a network of nine polyclinics. The group operates Singapore General Hospital, KK Women's and Children's Hospital and...
, one of iSOFT's three early adopters abandoned plans to wait for delivery of LORENZO and opted to return to i.Clinical Manager's heritage product and deployed Sunrise Clinical Manager from Eclipsys instead.
In November 2009, the government admitted that despite the challenges a handful of sites had gone live with Lorenzo, although there were only 174 regular users.http://www.e-health-insider.com/News/5341/lorenzo_has_just_174_'regular_users' A week later, Gary Cohen claimed that LORENZO would be live at 25 trusts in 2010,http://www.e-health-insider.com/News/5376/cohen:_25_trusts_to_get_lorenzo_in_2010 despite the history of problems.
Less than three months later, NHS trusts trying to install Lorenzo reported delays or deferred the installation of Lorenzo.http://www.e-health-insider.com/News/5556/lorenzo_-_slow_progress_at_morecambe_bayhttp://www.e-health-insider.com/news/5583/pennine_care_delays_lorenzo_r1.9http://www.e-health-insider.com/news/5598/east_midlands_defers_lorenzo_deployments
iSOFT History
- 2011, CSCComputer Sciences CorporationComputer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
acquired iSOFT on August, 2011 - 2011, CSCComputer Sciences CorporationComputer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...
announces its planned acquisition of iSoft Group - 2010, iSOFT Group acquires Belgium-based health IT company UltraGenda BV
- 2009, iSOFT Group acquires Patient Safety International Pty Ltd.
- 2009, iSOFT Group acquires US software developer BridgeForward
- 2009, IBA acquires Hatrix Pty Ltd.
- 2007, IBA Health Group merger
- 2006, Disposal of Swiss operations
- 2005, Acquisition of Novasoft Sanidad S.A.
- 2004, World-wide strategic alliance with MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Two principal contracts entered into to deliver software and services as part of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) in England - 2003, Merger with Torex plc
- 2002, Acquisition of Revive Group Limited, Acquisition of Paramedical Pty Limited, Acquisition of healthcare business of Northgate Information Solutions plc, Microsoft global launch partner, and the only European software partner for the Windows XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
Tablet PC launch - 2001, Dedicated offshore development business established in ChennaiChennaiChennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Acquisition of ACT Medisys Limited, Acquisition of Eclipsys Limited and Eclipsys Pty Limited - 2000, Full listing on London Stock ExchangeLondon Stock ExchangeThe London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
- 1999, Only Microsoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL ServerMicrosoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
7.0 launch partner in UK health, Acquisition of CSC's Australian healthcare systems business - 1998, Management buy-out by senior executives to create iSOFT
- 1994, Healthcare information systems business founded within KPMGKPMGKPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
News items
- 11 June 2010, The Financial Services Authority has launched fraud proceedings against four former directors of iSOFT Group.