HP Services Lands $30 Million Texas Health Care Contract

Hewlett-Packard Co. said that its enterprise services unit has landed a $30 million, 52-month services deal to construct for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission a web-based, statewide, health information exchange for some three million Medicaid recipients.

Under terms of the contract, HP will provide an electronic health history system for Medicaid recipients, a web portal for some 70,000 providers to access patient information, a web-based tool for providers to send prescriptions, a web portal for recipients to check program eligibility and access personal records, and permanent plastic identification cards.

“States need to improve health outcomes and enable better access to healthcare records,” said Susan Arthur, HP Enterprise Services, vice president, U.S. Healthcare. “With more than four decades of industry-leading experience, HP will provide the cost-effective healthcare solutions Texans need,” she said.

Texas health officials said that the new system will streamline provider interaction, improve prescription services and provide recipients to better health information.

The HP solution is based on an e-health platform from InterComponentWare AG, a Walldorf, Germany-based provider of e-health solutions. The InterComponentWare framework, which is extensible and interoperable, will allow for a common patient health history across the state of Texas, officials said.

HP’s system will include a roles-based security model that will allow the state to control access and privileges in accordance with Texas and federal law that mandates the protection of personal health information.

HP said that it is the largest provider of Medicaid and Medicare process management services in the country. The vendor said that it serves as either the fiscal agent or IT provider for Medicaid in 21 states and administers $95 billion in benefits a year.

Since early December, 2010, HP has secured a number of lucrative services contracts, most recently a $2.5 billion deal with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and earlier deals with BP for $400 million, German utility E.ON IT GmbH for $1.4 billion and TOPS Friendly Markets LLC for $80 million.