HP closes hospital printing deal

Hewlett-Packard on Thursday announced a $15 million deal to revamp and manage the printing infrastructure at an Ohio-based hospital system.

Under the agreement, HP will streamline the printing infrastructure at over 150 sites that are part of University Hospitals Health Systems. Currently, the organization uses 78 different models of printers and imaging devices from 12 manufacturers.

Managers at the hospital chain will now be able to remotely monitor and control their printing and imaging systems using HP's managed office services, HP said. Additionally, the organization will use 1,250 new HP devices, including multifunction printers and copiers, color work group laser jet printers, and print server appliances.

HP said the deal will save University Hospitals Health Systems up to $2.8 million annually in printing and imaging costs.

In March, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based computing giant signed a similar printing services deal with automaker Ford. Both deals are seen as part of HP's push to derive more consulting dollars from its printing and imaging business. Other technology companies, including IBM, also compete in this segment.