Sun makes health care play

Sun Microsystems plans a new play in the health-care space through the question of identity, says ZDNet.

Sun has been a major player in identity management for some time, and was one of the founders of the Liberty Alliance, which has been working on identity standards since before the turn of the century.

But with the recent relaunch of its Open SSO project, with one version and one level of support for both Enterprise and Express customers, Sun is seeking to make itself essential to the new health-care information revolution.

Health-care network executives are discovering that wireless access to data can have a dramatic effect in boosting the number of patients served, improving the quality of physician diagnosis, and speeding payments and billing cycles, reports Network World.

Wireless and mobile technologies are top spending priorities for health-care organisations, according to a recent report from Forrester Research. Although wireless LANs have been used in hospitals for some time, the roll-outs are getting bigger, and the applications are more sophisticated.

Administrators and physicians view these developments as a foundation for improved efficiencies in billing and quality of patient care, says Rick Shoup, vice-president of health care solutions for management consultancy Infosys.

Datatrak International, the US-based e-clinical specialist whose operating losses more than tripled on a 40% revenue decline last year, is considering a sale or merger among a range of options to maximise shareholder value, says Pharmatimes.

The beleaguered company has retained Healthcare Growth Partners as a strategic and financial advisor to help the Datatrak board of directors evaluate a range of possibilities.

In particular, the review will seek to investigate and determine "the value large health-care technology or other clinical trials-related companies might see in Datatrak to leverage our presence, experience and products in this market", noted CEO Dr Jeffrey Green.