Oracle adds Fusion Cloud features targeted at healthcare firms

Increasing its focus on healthcare industry customers, Oracle on Wednesday announced updates  for its Cloud Fusion suite aimed at meeting their financial planning, supply chain and human resources needs.  

The updates, which were announced at the company’s ongoing annual CloudWorld conference, include additions to the company’s Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), Supply Chain management (SCM) and Human Capital Management (HCM) suites.

The healthcare sector has become a major target for Oracle, as signaled by its $28 billion acquisition of healthcare systems maker Cerner, which closed in June.

Better financial planning via EPM suite

In order to help healthcare companies optimize financial and operational management, the company said it was launching planning capabilities that can model scenarios, determine future demand, optimize resources, and help users make better financial, workforce, and patient care decisions.

Dubbed Oracle Cloud EPM Solutions for Healthcare, the new features will be offered as part of Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) suite.

“Outdated financial systems and processes prevent many healthcare organizations from being able to adapt quickly to operational uncertainties, which impact their ability to manage costs, operate efficiently, and provide the best possible care,” Matthew Bradley, senior vice president of applications development at Oracle, said in a statement.

The additions to the EPM suite will offer planning and management capabilities for financial statements, balance sheets, and cash flow.

Other capabilities include performance management monitoring, demand forecasting, workforce optimization and capital expense planning.

Updates to supply chain management suite

Oracle on Wednesday also added specific tools to aid healthcare firms with supply chain issues.

These tools, according to Oracle, will help improve patient care by optimizing supply chain planning, automating processes, and enhancing visibility into what’s happening across a company’s supply chain.

Dubbed Oracle SCM for Healthcare, the new capabilities will be offered as part of Oracle’s Fusion Cloud Supply Chain and Manufacturing (SCM) suite. They include a new home equipment delivery application, a new supply chain planning service and added capabilities for the Oracle Procurement application to help drive down supply chain costs.

Updates to human resource management suite

In an effort to help healthcare providers manage staff efficiently, Oracle said that it was launching a specialized set of tools for Oracle ME (my experience), which is part of the Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) suite.

The new capabilities will reduce burnout and costs by improving efficiency, and deliver better patient care by providing a user interface that meets the unique needs of healthcare workers, the company said in a statement.

The tool set includes capabilities designed to attract talent and develop staff skills, reduce costs, improve productivity, and optimize staffing and scheduling.

Oracle said that the healthcare additions to the EPM suite are generally available now; some of the new HCM features are available now, and a schedule for rollout of all the new capabilities will be issued soon; and the SCM updates will be generally available soon.

(This story has been updated to correctly spell out the term EPM, which stands for Enterprise Performance Management.)