McKesson reportedly considering sale of its HIT unit

McKesson may be mulling a move to divest its Technology Solutions unit, which offers a range of information systems to hospitals, physician practices and other contributors.

McKesson executives were contacted for comment on the potential sale, but refused to comment. A spokesman for McKesson reacted that the company does not comment "on rumors and speculation."

McKesson’s tech unit had sales of $2.9 billion in the fiscal year which lasted on the day of March 31, 2016. The unit could fetch up to $5 billion, stated that The Wall Street Journal, which 1^st reported the possible move. The company is mulling the moves that will empower profit margins overall, The Journal claimed.

Initially this year, McKesson sold its small physician practice electronic health records (EHRs) and practice management product lines to e-MDs. The McKesson products for small practices were utilized by some 35,000 physicians. That sale to e-MDs did not depict a change in McKesson’s overall health information technology strategy, stated the Scott Sanner, senior vice president and general manager at McKesson’s business performance unit at that time.

The product suite involves the Paragon electronic health record system, and separate data systems for the emergency department, home care, surgical, supply chain, enterprise resource planning, sufferer access, revenue cycle, clinical decision support, diagnostic imaging, data analytics, controlled substances management and chronic care management.

Whether the RelayHealth interoperability unit is part of the deal or retained isn’t still obvious. While McKesson’s HIT portfolio is among the greatest in the industry, the company’s main business is drug distribution.