ATLANTA – NDCHealth officials say an Atlanta judge has dismissed a class-action lawsuit alleging the health information services company used improper revenue recognition methods to strengthen quarterly revenue reports.

In a brief statement issued July 28, the company told investors "the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted the company's motion to dismiss the securities class-action complaint naming NDCHealth Corporation and certain of its officers and advisors as defendants."

The plaintiffs – securities purchasers who bought NDCHealth shares between Oct. 1, 2003 and March 31, 2004 – have 30 days to file an appeal. It was a bit of a good new for a company that has been dragged down by questions about its accounting practices over the last 16 months.

The securities complaint was originally filed against the company on April 8, 2004 following disclosures by NDCHealth that it was reviewing its accounting practices, especially the timing of revenue recognition of sales to the value-added reseller channel in its physician business unit. At about the same time, the Atlanta office of the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it would conduct an informal inquiry into the matter.

As a result of its own review – and no doubt prodded by the SEC inquiry – NDCHealth said it would restate financial results between FY2002 and the first quarter of FY 2005. On March 30 of this year, NDCHealth's board of directors voted to pursue the potential sale of the company.

The company plans to release its fiscal fourth quarter and year-end financial results after market close on Wednesday, Aug. 10. Management will host a conference call to review the company's recent financial and operating performance and business outlook.

In other business news:

• Payers Aetna and PacifiCare reported strong improvements in their second quarter earnings reports. Aetna earned net income of $410 million (up 43 percent) on second-quarter revenues of $5.5 billion – both substantially higher than a year ago. PacifiCare, which recently agreed to be acquired by UnitedHealth, earned $92.6 million (up 22 percent) and reported $3.58 billion in total revenues for the quarter.

• For Boca Raton-based Eclipsys, a second quarter in the red was relatively good news – compared to the same period a year ago, when it lost $10 million. This year's $2.5 million loss represents an affirmation of the changes the company has taken to become more customer-focused. In addition to experimenting with a different revenue model, Eclipsys has taken major steps to speed up its technological developments, deliver upgrades to its Sunrise family of IT solutions more quickly and include user feedback in the development process. Revenues were up 30 percent over last year, climbing from $73.64 million to $95.86 million.

• Lawson Software announced a series of new customer wins. Three customers, including the Cleveland Clinic and the MetroHealth System, located in Cleveland, Ohio, signed a contract for or implemented Lawson's grant management application in the quarter ending on May 31, 2005. The company also announced 12 new supply chain management contracts. New customers include the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Health System, Loyola University Medical Center and Catholic Healthcare West.

• Intellitactics and Covelight Systems announced plans to integrate software that monitors the activities of "insiders" and guards against unauthorized access to sensitive data. Intellitactics Security Manager software and the Covelight Percept Privacy Protection and Fraud Management technology will monitor authenticated users and their activities, and alert IT managers to possible breaches and suspicious activity. The integrated product offering allows organizations that maintain sensitive personal information to meet increasing privacy and auditing requirements imposed by compliance regulations such as HIPAA.