McKesson reportedly mulling sale of its HIT unit

McKesson may be considering a move to divest its Technology Solutions unit, which provides a range of information systems to hospitals, physician practices and other providers.

McKesson executives were contacted for comment on the potential sale, but declined to comment. A spokeman for McKesson responded that the company doesn't comment "on rumors and speculation."

McKesson’s tech unit had sales of $2.9 billion in the fiscal year which ended March 31, 2016. The unit could fetch up to $5 billion, said The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the possible move. The company is considering moves that will boost profit margins overall, The Journal said.

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

The product suite includes the Paragon electronic health record system, and separate information systems for the emergency department, home care, surgical, supply chain, enterprise resource planning, patient 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 is not yet clear. While McKesson’s HIT portfolio is among the largest in the industry, the company’s core business is drug distribution.