Australian state signs health care IT pacts

The Department of Human Services in the Australian state of Victoria has awarded health care software vendor Cerner Corp. a contract to implement new clinical applications for all of the state's public-sector health providers.

The contract with North Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner is part of the agency's HealthSmart program, a four-year initiative valued at A$323 million Australian (US$236 million).

HealthSmart contracts have also been awarded to Trak-Health Pty. in Sydney, Australia, for a client management system; iSoft Group PLC in Manchester, England, for an integrated patient records system; and Frontier Software Pty. in Melbourne for a human resources system.

In addition, Oracle Corp. won a contract to provide financial and supply management software to the Victoria Department of Human Services.