15 Jul 2015

Good news in US for Orion Health

1:56 pm on 15 July 2015

Orion Health has reported positive cash flow in the first quarter of its new financial year but says it expects that to turn negative in the months ahead as it invests in growth.

Orion Health chief executive and majority stakeholder, Ian McCrae, rings the bell as the software company launches on the NZX this morning, with Orion chair Andrew Ferrier (right), and surrounded by the executive team.

Orion Health chief executive Ian McCrae rings the bell at the company's launch on the NZX in 2014. Photo: RNZ / Nona Pelletier

The healthcare software firm said operating cashflow stood at $200,000 in the three months to the end of June.

For the six months, Orion said its cashflow totalled $1 million, ahead of internal forecasts.

The company said it was in investment mode - spending on research and development, and building its software as a service business.

Chief operating officer Graeme Wilson said the size of the opportunities globally were growing, as the healthcare technology industry was expected to be worth $70 billion by 2020.

"The size of our opportunities continue to increase. In some instances, we're working with organisations that are larger in scale than the entire New Zealand health system."

Mr Wilson said a recent US Supreme Court ruling upholding insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was good news for Orion.

Orion also secured a number of contracts in the US during the quarter, including a deal to provide healthcare providers across North Dakota access to medical images as part of the state's health information exchange.

It has also won new contracts in Britain, Spain and Vietnam and is benefiting from new medical funding in Australia.

Orion's shares rose 9 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $3.98 each at 1.30pm.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs