Clarian Health shifts to large scale outsourcing. (IT Outsourcing).

Clarian Health Partners, Indianapolis, has signed a sweeping $100 million, multi-year IT outsourcing deal with consulting firm Cap Gemini Ernst & Young (CGE&Y). The agreement will transfer 180 employees from the $1.8 billion health system to CGE&Y and outsource most of its IT operations,

including implementation of Cerner's Millenium as a new clinical information system for the system's three main hospitals. The IT work will also entail an overhaul of Clarian's care management process to embrace principles of evidence-based healthcare and give physicians more real-time access to decision-supporting scientific research.

The Clarian announcement trumpets the continuing trend to near full-scale IT outsourcing for many major healthcare IDNs, as they try to contain costs and overcome shortages of experienced IT personnel. CGE&Y has inked several large scale IT outsourcing contracts in recent years, including one with Continuum Health Partners in New York. Continuum has documented $150 million in savings in the past two years from the approach, CGE&Y indicated. New York Presbyterian Hospital initiated one of the industry's largest healthcare outsourcing contracts in January 2000, a $228 million, seven-year pact with First Consulting Group (FCG) that converted more than 400 hospital IT staff members into FCG employees.