The Department of Health has chosen US-headquartered business process services firm Vangent, now part of General Dynamics IT, as its preferred supplier to deliver the new calculating and reporting system that will support GP Commissioning – the GP Payments Calculation Service (GPPCS). According to the OJEU notice the contract for GPCCS, which is set to replace the current QMAS system, is worth between £20m and £60m over six years. Vangent saw off competition from Accenture at the final hurdle. The other shortlisted suppliers were Capgemini and TCS.
Vangent will be delighted with this win, its first in the UK healthcare market. This deal is right up its street, particularly since its acquisition of US healthcare data analytics expert Buccaneer Computer Systems in 2010.
Vangent has had a relatively low profile in the UK public sector market to date despite successful deals with the likes of Southwark Borough Council and a strong track record in health in the US (see Vangent: Bringing US experience to the UK). It has long held ambitions to grow its UK business further and health is a key target market. We’d expect a renewed push to strengthen the UK operations now that Vangent is part of General Dynamics (see also General Dynamics buying Vangent for $1bn), and the GPCCS win will be a welcome boost to the process as we start 2012.