Mike Martin

Manufacturers of health-care business solutions discuss a changing market and what distributors can do to tap into it HEALTH-CARE ADVANCES are reaching sci-fi proportions. In 2003, the human genome was unlocked. Today, patients can swallow a pill-sized camera delivering thousands of internal images directly to a physician's computer. And soon on the horizon, pharmaceuticals dubbed "super drugs" will be customized to target an individual's specific genetic makeup, thus enhancing drug efficacy. The health-care industry is arguably the most technologically competitive and innovative market worldwide. But for an industry so quick in the application of patient care technology, it has been life-threateningly slow in adopting

The prognosis for increasing profits is good due to regulation reinforcement. The hot topic on the table for health-care right now in terms of business forms products is privacy. That's because on April 14, those within the medical industry are expected to adopt one of the last remaining compliances in accordance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)—a law mandating regulations that govern privacy, security and electronic transactions standards for health-care information. For distributors either seeking entry into this market or additional sales within it, this upcoming deadline swings the door of sales opportunity wide open. According to Jim Magdaleno, account manager