Health software developer Orion Health is back on track after an unhappy time as stock exchange listed company.
Photo: 123rf
The company has just developed the world's largest health data exchange for Saudi Arabia, with tools designed to manage in a post-Covid world.
Orion's scalable system will serve 5000 healthcare providers and 32 million people at the time of its launch, with capacity to serve more than 50m clients.
The value of the deal has not been disclosed, but company founder and chief executive Ian McCrae said these types of systems generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Orion Health founder and chief executive Ian McCrae Photo: Supplied
The company has systems in 15 countries including 12 US states, seven Canadian provinces, 56 percent of Britain's National Health Service regions, and in Europe.
McCrae said in a post-pandemic world these systems would improve health services, with a lot of potential.
"Globally, there are too many clinicians operating without all the details regarding medications, lab results, diagnoses and medical history," he said.
"We have the global view of how healthcare systems are evolving in the wake of Covid-19 - and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is about to prove what's possible."
Back to profit
Orion's current circumstances are more positive than its time as a listed stock on the NZX.
It listed in 2014 and was one of the bright lights of the tech sector, debuting at $6.50 a share.
But it quickly dimmed, as it struggled to get paying contracts completed on time, failed to meet earnings forecasts, burnt through cash, and ended up going through a costly restructuring that resulted in redundancies and the sale of assets.
McCrae, who was rarely happy about the scrutiny the public company attracted, took back ownership in 2019 as investors ditched the stock. He paid $1.22 a share for the remnants of the company.
These days, McCrae said he spent far more time on development of new products, whereas he used to spend about half his time dealing with NZX-related matters.
"Well, after the listing we took the company back to the way we ran it in the early days as an entrepreneurial business, with a big focus on our products," he said.
"We got back to profitability and back to growth."
McCrae said he would not contemplate a second go at listing on the NZX.
