Imprivata Signs On Scottish Healthcare System

Lexington, MA-based Imprivata, a security tech company focused on health IT applications, said today it has landed a multimillion-dollar deal with NHS Scotland to provide secure access technology to that country’s healthcare workers. No further financial details were given in the release, but another report puts the price at 1.8 million pounds (just under U.S. $3 million) over five years. The product will be delivered in partnership with Northgate Managed Services, an IT services firm. Imprivata, which is backed by a number of Boston venture firms, has developed a system that lets clinicians and other users sign on to their computer once, instead of needing multiple passwords for different applications, to do things like access health records. Xconomy first wrote about Imprivata’s single sign-on technology in 2007.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.