For example, one hot area that's emerged centers on exchanging data among healthcare information systems (witness the rise of Health Level Seven, and its coming replacement by XML) and, more recently, devices. Not surprisingly, instant messaging and text messaging are finding their way into the healthcare industry as well.

Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint is the latest to have begun marketing a mobile messaging-based solution toward doctors.

The telecom's enterprise services division is promoting Sprint Mobile Computing for Hospitals, a mobile-messaging-based offering that enables doctors and caregivers to remotely retrieve and interact with information on hospital systems.

In essence, the offering can be configured to send a wireless alert (using text and graphics) in response to pre-set conditions -- for instance, if a patient's vital signs fall below a level set by the doctor. Doctors can respond to the alerts with instructions for their staff, or can interact with the hospital database to check or change patient information.

The product, which Sprint is selling in both ASP and in-house configurations, hinges on the company's Enterprise Application Messaging offering -- Sprint's two month-old entry into the "interactive agents" space where players like Vayusphere and ActiveBuddy have made their mark. (Enterprise Application Messaging, in turn, relies on the telecom giant's secure IM platform, Sprint Enterprise Instant Messaging, which had previously been marketed as Sprint Universal IM).

The solution supports the Web-enabled Sprint PCS phones, as well as laptops, PDAs, and combination devices like the Handspring Treo 300.

Sprint's not the only one playing in the field. Atlanta-based McKesson Information Solutions also markets technology that integrates hospital databases and systems with messaging.

Its Horizon Care Alerts product works with patient and treatment information coming from other McKesson offerings, as well as Oracle and Microsoft SQL databases, to create alerts that pop up in other applications in response to pre-set conditions -- indicating whether a patients condition has changed or requires reevaluation.

Since it supports Java and XML, the system can also tie-into other notification engines and services -- ultimately, a system that will include text messaging, McKesson said.

Earlier this week, the company also introduced a product based on Voice-over-IP that ties hospital call systems into a wireless network. The offering, Horizon Care Access, routes patient calls to on-duty nurses' mobile devices, providing for two-way voice communications.

Ideally, such offerings are designed to make hospitals more efficient. For example, doctors and nurses don't have to spend as much time making their rounds -- instead, they can use such systems to check on patients remotely (so much for bedside manner). It's also a better incentive to use home-care programs, freeing up hospital beds for patients that need closer observation.

"Hospital patients need around-the-clock, personal attention whether or not their doctors are on the premises," said Bruce Friedman, director of mobile computing services at Sprint. "Hospital administrators are under increasing pressure to make their facilities more efficient."

Christopher Saunders is managing editor of InstantMessagingPlanet.com.

Looking to understand to integrate IM and wireless messaging into your business? Join us at the Instant Messaging Planet Spring Conference and Expo, Feb. 24 and 25 in Boston. Sessions include "Beyond IM: Point of Presence and Collaborative Applications" and "Integrating IM into a Traditional IT Structure."