Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Cerner Corp. agreed to buy Siemens AG’s health information technology unit for $1.3 billion as the U.S. electronic medical records provider plans to tap rising spending on software by hospitals and doctors.

The two companies plan a “strategic alliance” around medical devices, imaging and health care technology, they said yesterday in a statement. The purchase is expected to add more than 15 cents to earnings per share in 2015, Kansas City-based Cerner said.

The Obama administration has paid doctors and hospitals about $25 billion to install the systems since 2011, trying to improve the efficiency and safety of health care. Siemens had been exploring the sale of its hospital information unit to focus on energy and industrial businesses, two people familiar with the plans told Bloomberg News last month. Cerner is the fourth-leading supplier of electronic records systems to U.S. hospitals, according to Software Advice, an Austin, Texas, consulting firm.