Relationship status: The route for i.s.h.med is being recalculated

At DMEA, arguably the most important trade fair for health IT in Europe, Oracle Cerner unveiled its latest generation of health platforms. The announcements were exciting not only for INFORMATICS but also for customers, because “i.s.h.med® from Oracle Cerner cannot be ported to S/4 and will therefore no longer be available on an SAP platform in the future,” according to Peter Altreiter. The deadline for migrating to S/4 is the end of 2030. However, Oracle Cerner is presenting solutions.

“Oracle Cerner enables customers to plan the succession of their clinical systems in a structured manner—
—and to design a flexible path—
—that extends well beyond 2030.”

Peter Altreiter, Managing Director of INFORMATICS Healthcare

SAP’s decision to discontinue IS-H has sent shockwaves through the healthcare industry. This change affects not only the IS-H billing module but also the i.s.h.med medical module. Until the DMEA, customers had assumed that, as of 2027, an extension through 2030 for these two modules would only be possible by purchasing extended maintenance. Oracle Cerner addressed this significant uncertainty among customers and lifted the veil at the DMEA.

“Our new health platform puts people first—whether they are citizens, patients, or users.”

Stefan Radatz, Vice President and Managing Director of i.s.h.med Oracle Cerner Germany & Austria

The future of patient billing, the next steps for Oracle Cerner i.s.h.med, and a timeline for a potential RFP for a new solution—these are all issues currently on customers’ minds. At DMEA, Oracle Cerner sought to provide customers with a clear outlook by addressing these questions, specifically through the presentation of the health platform developed by Oracle Cerner, a detailed roadmap outlining the various development stages and deployments, as well as the commitment to a temporary extension of maintenance for i.s.h. med and ACM and the associated legal changes beyond 2030.

The Timeline

The timeline for Oracle Cerner’s new healthcare platform has been outlined as follows: Starting with patient administration, work on the new centralized healthcare solution is already well underway. Following the implementation of outpatient processes, the emergency department will also be integrated. Finally, the inpatient processes will be added to create a comprehensive representation of the requirements needed in the clinical environment. INFORMATICS 2030 was identified as the target date for this process.

KHZG is shaking up the market

For i.s.h.med customers, the challenge is that the currently announced end date for IS-H and i.s.h.med in 2030 necessitates a prompt call for proposals or search for a new healthcare platform. However, looking at the market today, it is clear that the project workload for all consulting firms in German-speaking countries is extremely high. Triggered by the Hospital Future Act (KHZG), a large number of institutions—particularly in Germany—are currently in the process of digitization, which is having an impact on the market.

What will happen to IS-H?

In the context of SAP IS-H, the following implications arise for INFORMATICS customers: “All major HIS vendors are already working on billing functionality integrated into their respective HIS systems. Based on S/4, there will be a GITG solution, at least for Germany.” Whether an S/4 solution will be developed for Austria has not yet been decided. Thus, while there are already initial insights in this context, there is still no finished solution that can be evaluated.

“We are working alongside our customers and partners to move toward the next stages of digitalization—while allowing ample time for forward-looking decisions.”

Stefan Radatz, Vice President and Managing Director of i.s.h.med Oracle Cerner Germany & Austria

Oracle's commitment gives Cerner's customers time

Oracle Cerner’s commitment to providing maintenance beyond 2030 enables customers to “navigate” the current shortage of experienced consultants and partners. Furthermore, this extended timeframe allows for a more meaningful assessment of improvements to individual products. Based on current conditions, INFORMATICS can recommend this approach to its customers, as the health platform market is generally perceived as highly volatile. The time gained can be used to implement activities that are necessary regardless of the future health platform strategy.

The journey is the destination

Regardless of the HIS strategy i.s.h.med customers pursue, a change in the ERP core is inevitable. Customers are therefore advised to accelerate the separation of ERP core scenarios and decouple them from the clinical system. It can be assumed that Oracle Cerner also intends to position its in-house Oracle Fusion ERP as an alternative to S/4 for customers. From INFORMATICS’ perspective, it is therefore important that, regardless of the ERP strategy, the side-by-side scenario be completed by 2027.

What does this mean for our customers?

We have understood Oracle Cerner’s statements to mean that when operating the ECC i.s.h.med solution on the Oracle OCI platform (on-premises and cloud), an extended maintenance period can be utilized without committing to the new Health Platform solution. The path is more difficult for HANA customers, as migration to OCI without changing the database is not possible here—but even in this case, a solution should be available through individual maintenance agreements.

“It is currently only partially clear who will be able to provide a functional patient billing system and when—the maintenance support provided by Oracle Cerner gives customers some breathing room in this regard.”

Peter Altreiter, Managing Director of INFORMATICS Healthcare

INFORMATICS Embraces Oracle's Strategy

IN any case, INFORMATICS will embrace Oracle’s strategy in order to provide the best possible support to its customers. The hope that there is a future for healthcare on the SAP platform has now been dashed once and for all. The path outlined by Oracle and Cerner offers customers an opportunity, beyond 2030, to calmly evaluate the developments of all health platform vendors and thus postpone necessary tenders.

The INFORMATICS team is currently preparing for its first training sessions on OCI. In doing so, we remain committed to living up to our motto, “well advised”—even as our world is changing and this will soon affect the Oracle Cerner ecosystem as well.

INFORMATICS is always available to answer any questions or provide further details.