The healthcare sector has traditionally been reluctant to invest in information and communications technology, but the EU public policy agenda is now driving major changes to this approach. At a transatlantic eHealth policy workshop, Charles Scatchard, Oracle's EMEA vice president for healthcare and life sciences, outlined how technology can support the transition to modern, information-driven health care.

Siemens Medical Solutions (Siemens Med) and BT (British Telecommunications) have signed a worldwide value-added reseller agreement for the provision of identity and access management services to global clients. BT has excellent international market access and Siemens Med is a globally active supplier of a leading identity and access management suite. The new partnership consolidates the existing, successful collaborative relationship that the two companies have enjoyed for many years.

In today's world of fragmented media and channel mix, it is increasingly difficult to isolate the information sources used by consumers to research health information and inform healthcare decision making. This is especially the case across Europe, where consumers are accessing an expanding range of resources which vary greatly by country and by region.

Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) will update the market on its Medical Systems division – the foundation of Philips' professional healthcare business. At the meeting with investors and financial analysts, Philips explained that its approach to healthcare - focused on making healthcare simpler, both for medical professionals and patients - is setting the company apart from the competition, and is positioning the Medical Systems division for long-term, profitable growth.

Agfa HealthCare, a leading provider of IT enabled clinical workflow and diagnostic imaging solutions, announced that the first steps towards the comprehensive introduction of its ORBIS(TM) Clinical Information System (CIS) were successfully completed at the beginning of April at the Paracelsus hospital in Ruit and the district hospital in Plochingen.

Agfa HealthCare, a leading provider of IT enabled clinical workflow and diagnostic imaging solutions, today unveiled ORBIS(TM), its Hospital and Clinical Information System (HIS/CIS), for the first time in Canada at the e-Health Conference 2007 (Québec City, Québec, Canada from Sunday, May 27th to Wednesday, May 30th). The number one choice for Electronic Patient Records (EPR) in Europe, ORBIS offers a unique single database structure which integrates all administrative and clinical data.

InterSystems Corporation announced it has acquired Australia-based TrakHealth. An application partner of InterSystems since 1991, TrakHealth develops and markets TrakCare, an enterprise-level web-based health information system deployed in 25 countries. TrakHealth will operate as an independent subsidiary of InterSystems, with its own sales force.