Our Latest Arrival: HealthCare Integrator

VARBusiness

If you've set your sights on expanding your healthcare practice, check out the inagural issue of HealthCare Integrator, a joint VARBusiness/CRN project focused on solution providers servicing the health care industry.

Regulatory issues, of course, abound in healthcare. Of most immediate concern to providers is the April 14 deadline to comply with regulations in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA), covering the privacy of patient information. Coming up later this year, deadlines for implementation of standard data interchange formats between healthcare providers and payers. The first HealthCare Integrator cover story examines just how solution providers are addressing these and other challenges.

Also in the inagural issue, you'll find tips on using wireless applications in clinical situations, a look at how solution providers target the healthcare market, more VARBusiness research data on healthcare, along with an interview with Luther Nussbaum, CEO of First Consulting Group, one of the leading healthcare VARs. CRN editor Michael Vizard spells out three forces dramatically altering today's healthcare industry.

App Servers Move Downstream

Major application server vendors made moves this week to bring their products to a broader audience. Among the headlines: BEA announced new entry-level pricing for its WebLogic Server; Oracle rolled out a new version of its own low-cost Oracle 9iAS Java Edition App Server; and IBM talked up the Commerce Express edition of WebSphere, due later this year. Meanwhile IBM will also offer tools to support dual-development of its own WebSphere and BEA WebLogic applications.

In other mid-market server news, Microsoft unveiled it's Empower Program to provide more resources to solution providers selling Microsoft Small Business Server.

Best of the Week

Speaking of health care issues: the Asian SARS epidemic is the latest problem affecting worldwide commerce, particularly supply chains for electronic products. And the forecast is also dimming for IT spending in the US, according to researcher IDC.

Distributor D&H is rolling out new programs to appeal to system builders and soluion providers offering home networking and consumer electronics products.

Coming Up

Next week's GovernmentVAR issue details over 100 partner programs from vendors and distributors specifically addressed to government solution providers. Watch out for news from Sun's IForce partner conference as well.