Accelerate National Internet Exchange of Health and Patient Medical Information Using Existing Approaches, Expert Advises

Achieving the secure nationwide exchange of health information and patient medical information using the Internet will be advanced by adopting existing standards, technology and currently used approaches to authenticatedigital identities, according to testimony presented today to the National Health Information Network (NHIN) committee advising on the development of a nationwide health information infrastructure. The testimony was delivered by SAFE-BioPharma Association, the non-profit that developed and maintains the SAFE-BioPharma® digital identity and signature standard.

Vetting and authenticating digital identities and managing their access to different types of information are necessary to maintain patient confidentiality and other legal and regulatory requirements.

“The U.S. Government has a well-developed set of interoperable identity management standards that meet the NHIN’s privacy, security and confidentiality requirements. These standards are robust and provide the confidence needed to exchange sensitive health information electronically among trusted parties,” said Mollie Shileds-Uehling, president and CEO, SAFE-BioPharma Association.

The full testimony is available at www.safe-biopharma.org/infocenter/SAFEBioPharmaNHINtestimony-1-7-09.pdf.

Additional information about the NHIN committee meeting is available at the HIT Policy Committee website.

About SAFE-BioPharma Association (www.safe-biopharma.org) SAFE-BioPharma Association is the non-profit association that created and manages the SAFE-BioPharma® digital identity and signature standard for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

The Association’s members include:

• Abbott (NYSE: ABT)
• Amarin Corp. (NASDAQ: AMRN)
• Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN)
• AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN)
• Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY)
• GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK)
• Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
• Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY)
• McDougall Scientific
• Merck (NYSE:MRK)
• National Notary Association
• Novartis (NYSE: NVS)
• Oxford Outcomes
• Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
• Premier Inc.
• Roche
• Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:SNY)
• ScheringPlough-Organon (NYSE: SGP)
• SNAP Diagnostics

SAFE-BioPharma® is a trademark of SAFE-BioPharma Association. Any use of this trademark requires approval from SAFE-BioPharma Association.