U.S. Health and Human Services Department Selects Cisco to Help Develop Nationwide Health Information Network

HHS Takes Critical Step Towards Modernizing Healthcare System

SAN JOSE, Calif., November 16, 2005 - Cisco today announced that it was selected by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to work with other technology firms to develop prototypes for a Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) architecture.
Cisco will work with two of the four consortia selected, one led by Accenture and the other by IBM to bring together technology developers and health care providers in local healthcare markets to develop architecture and a prototype network for secure information sharing among healthcare providers.

These consortia will work to ensure that information can be exchanged seamlessly between three regional healthcare markets thus establishing an infrastructure for the sharing of electronic health information and the desire to establish a Personal Health Record for each U.S. citizen.

“Modernizing our health system by enabling health-care providers and citizens to securely access health information is a national imperative, and Cisco is proud to play a key role,” said Dr. Jeffrey Rideout, Cisco Vice President of Healthcare, Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG). “By teaming with Accenture and IBM, Cisco can help develop state-of-the-art networks that are highly secure, scalable and flexible - all essential attributes for Medical Grade Networks.” Working with two separate prototypes will enable Cisco to develop solutions suited for distinct regional healthcare markets while adhering to the requirements of a Medical Grade Network and the nation’s desire for a standards-based National Health Information Network (NHIN).

According to HHS, the NHIN contracts will bring together technology developers, doctors and hospitals to create innovative state-of-the-art ideas for sharing health information with state of the art security features. Each of the four consortia will design and implement a standards-based network prototype during the coming year. The prototypes will test patient identification and information locator services; user authentication, access control and other security aspects, as well as test the feasibility of large-scale deployment.

The NHIN consortia will work closely with other HHS partners, including the Health Information Technology Standards Panel established by the American National Standards Institute, the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology, and the Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration established by RTI and the National Governor’s Association.

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