Orion Health
Orion Health is a New Zealand healthcare software company that develops systems for clinical integration, health information exchange, population health management, and precision medicine.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Orion Health is a New Zealand-based healthcare technology company founded in Auckland in 1993 by Ian McCrae. Its software is designed for healthcare providers, public health systems, private healthcare organizations, and health-sector networks that need to connect, manage, and analyze clinical information. The company operates across the healthcare information technology stack, from data integration and interoperability to integrated digital care records, health information exchanges, population health management, and precision medicine. The company became known internationally for products such as Amadeus and Rhapsody. Amadeus has been used to consolidate and present patient information across disparate clinical systems, while Rhapsody has served as an integration platform for connecting healthcare applications, databases, devices, and organizations. Orion Health’s technology has been associated with large-scale public-sector healthcare programs, including integrated digital care records in the United Kingdom and health information exchanges in the United States and other markets. Its value proposition has centered on helping healthcare organizations make information available across institutional and technical boundaries, support clinical decision-making, and use data for broader population-level planning. Orion Health remained privately owned for more than two decades before becoming a public company in November 2014 through a listing on the New Zealand Exchange. The public-company period brought greater visibility but also financial and strategic pressure. By 2017, the company had reported several years without a profit and began seeking additional capital. In 2019, shares were compulsorily acquired by founder Ian McCrae, and the company returned to private ownership after being removed from the New Zealand and Australian exchanges. The transaction was controversial among early investors because the acquisition price was substantially below the company’s initial public-offering price. The company continued expanding its technology and research activities during this period. In 2016, it worked with the University of Auckland and Waitemata District Health Board on Precision Driven Health, a data-science research initiative intended to apply clinical and genomic information to more individualized healthcare. In 2018, Orion Health introduced a cloud-based version of its Rhapsody integration platform on Amazon Web Services. In 2019, it reported delivery of a major health information exchange in the Middle East, designed to allow healthcare providers to view and store information for a very large population across public and private institutions. Ian McCrae led Orion Health from its founding until 2022, when Brad Porter became chief executive. In April 2025, Healwell AI completed the acquisition of Orion Health, bringing the company under new ownership. Orion Health’s continuing identity is that of a specialist healthcare software provider focused on interoperability, longitudinal patient information, connected care, and the use of health data to support clinical and operational decisions.
History
Orion Health was founded in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1993 by Ian McCrae. From the beginning, the company focused on healthcare information technology rather than general-purpose enterprise software. Its central challenge was the fragmentation of clinical information across hospitals, clinics, laboratories, government agencies, and specialist applications. Orion Health developed products intended to connect these systems and make information available to clinicians and healthcare organizations in a more unified form. The company expanded internationally as healthcare systems began investing in electronic records, interoperability, and data exchange. Its Amadeus platform became associated with the aggregation and presentation of patient information, while Rhapsody provided integration capabilities for linking healthcare applications and data sources. Orion Health also supplied systems used in integrated digital care records and health information exchanges. In the United Kingdom, its work was associated with Integrated Digital Care Records within the National Health Service. In the United States, the comparable model was generally described as a Health Information Exchange, allowing participating organizations to share relevant information across institutional boundaries. Orion Health remained privately owned for more than twenty years. It entered public markets on 26 November 2014 through a listing on the New Zealand Exchange. The public listing marked a significant corporate transition and provided access to public capital, but the company subsequently encountered profitability and funding challenges. In 2017, after three consecutive years without a profit, Orion Health acknowledged that it was seeking new investment. The company’s financial difficulties became a major part of its public-market story, even as it continued developing and deploying healthcare technology. Research and innovation formed another strand of the company’s development. In 2016, Orion Health joined the University of Auckland and Waitemata District Health Board in creating Precision Driven Health. The initiative was intended to use large-scale health data and data-science methods to improve individualized treatment and healthcare decision-making. The partnership received the Research and Business Partnership Award at the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards in 2017. The company pursued cloud delivery as healthcare customers increasingly sought scalable and remotely managed infrastructure. In February 2018, Orion Health launched a cloud-based Rhapsody integration offering on Amazon Web Services. This extended the reach of its integration technology beyond traditionally installed enterprise deployments and aligned the product with broader cloud-adoption trends in healthcare IT. In 2019, founder Ian McCrae compulsorily acquired the remaining shares. Orion Health was subsequently removed from both the New Zealand and Australian exchanges and returned to private ownership. The transaction attracted criticism and concern from early investors because the acquisition price was well below the company’s original public-offering price. The end of the listing did not end Orion Health’s commercial activity. During the same year, the company delivered a health information exchange in the Middle East, described as connecting thousands of public and private providers and supporting records for a population of exceptional scale. McCrae remained chief executive from the company’s creation until 2022, when Brad Porter took over. This leadership change represented a move from founder-led management to a new phase of executive stewardship while Orion Health continued to focus on interoperability, integrated records, population health, and precision medicine. In April 2025, Healwell AI completed the acquisition of Orion Health. The acquisition placed the New Zealand healthcare software business within Healwell AI’s broader healthcare technology portfolio and became the latest major ownership transition in Orion Health’s corporate history.
- 2025
Healwell AI completes acquisition
[1]Healwell AI completed its purchase of Orion Health.
- 2022
Brad Porter becomes chief executive
[1]Brad Porter succeeded Ian McCrae as chief executive after McCrae had led the business since its founding.
- 2019
Orion Health returns to private ownership
[1]Founder Ian McCrae’s compulsory acquisition of shares led to delisting from the New Zealand and Australian exchanges.
- 2019
Middle Eastern health information exchange delivered
[1]Orion Health delivered a large health information exchange connecting public and private healthcare providers in the Middle East.
- 2018
Cloud-based Rhapsody launches on AWS
[1]Orion Health launched a cloud-based version of Rhapsody using Amazon Web Services.
- 2017
Precision Driven Health partnership receives KiwiNet award
[1]The research partnership received the Research and Business Partnership Award at the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.
- 2016
Precision Driven Health partnership begins
[1]Orion Health partnered with the University of Auckland and Waitemata District Health Board to develop a major health-data research initiative.
- 2015
North American operations center established in Scottsdale
[1]Orion Health selected the Scottsdale Airpark area in Arizona for its North American operations center.
- 2014
Public listing on the New Zealand Exchange
[1]Orion Health became a public company on 26 November 2014 after listing on the New Zealand Exchange.
- 2010
Current Auckland premises open
[1]Orion Health’s current Auckland premises were opened, maintaining the company’s headquarters in New Zealand.
Products and positioning
A specialist enterprise healthcare software provider focused on interoperability, connected care, clinical data integration, population health, and precision medicine.
Clinical information and integrated care software
Amadeus
Amadeus is Orion Health’s healthcare information platform for bringing together clinical information from multiple systems and presenting it to healthcare professionals and organizations. Its role is to support longitudinal views of patient data, improve access to information across care settings, and enable analysis of health information in operational or clinical contexts. The platform has been recognized for its ability to integrate diverse healthcare data sources and support real-time analysis.
Healthcare integration platform
Rhapsody
Rhapsody is an integration platform for connecting healthcare applications, databases, clinical systems, and other data sources. It is intended to help organizations exchange information between systems that may use different technologies or data formats. Orion Health expanded the offering through a cloud-based deployment on Amazon Web Services in 2018, reflecting the industry’s movement toward hosted healthcare infrastructure and scalable integration services.
Integrated care record system
Integrated Digital Care Records
Orion Health’s Integrated Digital Care Record work supports the creation of shared clinical records across participating healthcare organizations. In the United Kingdom, this type of deployment has been associated with National Health Service programs intended to make relevant information available across care settings. The offering addresses the need for a more connected record of a patient’s interactions with health services rather than isolated records held by individual institutions.
Health information exchange
Health Information Exchange solutions
Orion Health develops health information exchange systems that allow authorized healthcare providers and organizations to share, view, and store clinical information across institutional boundaries. These systems can connect public and private providers and are intended to improve continuity of care, reduce information silos, and support population-level healthcare coordination. The company reported delivering a large-scale exchange in the Middle East in 2019.
Precision medicine and health-data research · 2016
Precision Driven Health
Precision Driven Health was a research and commercialization initiative developed by Orion Health with the University of Auckland and Waitemata District Health Board. It focused on applying data science and health information to more individualized healthcare. The initiative represents Orion Health’s work beyond infrastructure and integration, linking its software and data expertise with research into precision medicine and data-supported clinical decision-making.
Controversies
2019
Investor concerns following compulsory acquisition and delisting
Orion Health’s return to private ownership through a compulsory share acquisition generated concern among early investors because the acquisition price was substantially below the company’s initial public-offering price. The episode was a significant corporate and investor-relations controversy, although the available reference does not establish a legal finding of misconduct.
Brand decisions
2025
Acquisition by Healwell AIM&ABackground
Orion Health was operating as a privately held healthcare software company focused on interoperability and clinical data.
Action taken
Healwell AI completed the purchase of Orion Health.
Aftermath
Orion Health became part of Healwell AI’s healthcare technology portfolio.
2019
Return to private ownershipM&ABackground
Orion Health had faced profitability and funding pressures during its period as a listed company.
Action taken
Founder Ian McCrae compulsorily acquired shares, leading to the company’s delisting from the New Zealand and Australian exchanges.
Aftermath
Orion Health became privately held again, while the transaction prompted criticism from investors who had bought shares at the time of the public listing.
2018
Cloud deployment of Rhapsody on AWSProduct launchBackground
Healthcare organizations were increasingly adopting cloud infrastructure and hosted enterprise software.
Action taken
Orion Health launched a cloud-based Rhapsody integration offering on Amazon Web Services.
Aftermath
The launch extended Rhapsody beyond conventional installed deployments and aligned the product with cloud-based healthcare integration.
2014
Move from private ownership to public listingStrategyBackground
After more than twenty years as a privately owned business, Orion Health sought access to public capital and market visibility.
Action taken
The company listed on the New Zealand Exchange on 26 November 2014.
Aftermath
The listing began a period of public ownership that later ended with a compulsory acquisition and delisting in 2019.
Recent events
- 2025
Healwell AI completes acquisition of Orion Health[1]
M&A
Healwell AI completed the purchase of Orion Health, making Orion Health part of the acquiring healthcare technology group.
- 2022
Brad Porter becomes Orion Health chief executive[1]
Leadership change
Brad Porter succeeded founder Ian McCrae as chief executive, ending McCrae’s tenure in the role since the company’s creation.
- 2019
Ian McCrae acquires Orion Health shares and the company leaves public markets[1]
M&A · Other
Shares were compulsorily acquired by founder Ian McCrae, after which Orion Health was delisted from the New Zealand and Australian exchanges and became privately held again.
- 2019
Orion Health delivers a major Middle Eastern health information exchange[1]
Product launch
The company delivered a health information exchange in the Middle East intended to connect public and private healthcare providers and support access to records for a very large population.
- 2018
Orion Health launches cloud-based Rhapsody on Amazon Web Services[1]
Product launch
Orion Health introduced a cloud-based version of its Rhapsody healthcare integration platform using Amazon Web Services.
- 2017
Orion Health seeks new capital after continuing losses[1]
Other
The company stated that it was seeking a capital injection after reporting that it had not made a profit for three years.
- 2016
Orion Health establishes Precision Driven Health research partnership[1]
Other
Orion Health partnered with the University of Auckland and Waitemata District Health Board on a major New Zealand data-science research initiative focused on precision healthcare.
- 2014
Orion Health lists on the New Zealand Exchange[1]
Other
After more than two decades as a privately owned company, Orion Health became publicly traded on 26 November 2014.
Sources1 sources
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