FYI
Focused on Creating an Advanced and Interoperable Medical
Network, HIMSS and Internet2 Announce
Collaboration
The two organizations will leverage each other’s expertise
to explore the viability of an independent and logically interconnected
medical network in the United
States
CHICAGO, Ill. and ANN ARBOR, Mich. -
August 1,
2006 – The
Healthcare Information and
Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and
Internet2 announced
today that the two organizations have created a partnership to explore
the development of a secure, reliable and advanced networking solution
for the transmission of medical information, messages and images
throughout the broad healthcare
industry.
The
two organizations are exploring a new network designed to offer the
health sciences and healthcare sectors a private and secure medium for
exchanging health information. A next-generation architecture built to
meet federal regulatory requirements, this new network may also have
value to offer in the work of the Nationwide Health Information Network
(NHIN).
This ground-breaking collaboration is a natural extension for
both not-for-profit organizations. Through a membership of 20,000
individuals, 45 chapters, and more than 300 corporations representing
millions of employees, the HIMSS mission focuses on the betterment of
healthcare through the most effective use of information technology and management systems. Internet2,
the U.S.’s
advanced networking consortium led by 208 U.S.
university members in partnership with over 100 industry and government
members, works to develop and deploy advanced networks,
applications and resources.
“HIMSS and our members look forward to this collaboration
with Internet2,” said H. Stephen Lieber, HIMSS president/CEO.
“The synergies between HIMSS and Internet2 brought our
organizations together to consider and evaluate the feasibility of
establishing a network that would meet the evolving needs of the
biomedical and healthcare delivery community.”
Since 1999, Internet2 has operated an advanced nationwide network
that supports leading-edge Internet technology development for the
research and academic community. Internet2 recently announced a major
upgrade to this network to provide members 10 times the capacity and
speed of its current infrastructure. In addition, the Internet2
community has successfully developed important middleware technologies
to address critical issues in authentication and authorization in order
to enable active privacy management. Through this partnership, HIMSS and
the Internet2 community will work closely together to leverage these
leading-edge technologies to explore development of brand new
capabilities that meet the specific security and privacy needs of the
healthcare industry.
“The research and education community has long understood
the potential for leveraging advanced Internet technology to enhance
the healthcare industry’s ability to serve the public’s
needs, to improve the flow of information for research, to streamline
care processes and to enable cost savings,” said Douglas Van
Houweling, Internet2 president and CEO. “Our partnership with the
HIMSS community is a major step forward in realizing this vision.
Together we will work to create a new state-of-the-art platform for
biomedical research, education and clinical practice on a national
scale.”
Through the partnership, four working groups have been
established to explore the requirements and capabilities needed to
create an advanced medical network during the next year. HIMSS and
Internet2 will join each other’s organizations. Members of both
organizations will also join each of the four working groups, which
include:
- Identity Management that will allow the
identification and authentication of individuals regardless of their
physical location.
- Privacy & Security that will focus on
the tools and techniques that will assure the privacy and security of
the information that travels on the network.
- Biomedical (Health Sciences and
Healthcare)
Education
that will focus on meeting the unique needs and accessing the resources
required for biomedical education.
- Telehealth that will focus on the
implications for clinical practice when a reliable advanced network is
available.
In addition, members of both
organizations will work for the development and implementation of the
network with other partnerships and collaborations, including
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise
(IHE).
About HIMSS
The
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the
healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on
providing leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information
technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of
healthcare.
Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., and
other locations across the country, HIMSS represents more than 20,000
individual members and over 300 corporate members that collectively
represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and
leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its
advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed
to promote information and management systems’ contributions to
ensuring quality patient
care.
About
Internet2Led by more than 200
U.S.
universities, working with industry and government, Internet2 develops
and deploys advanced network applications and technologies for research
and higher education, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet.
Internet2 facilitates the kinds of dynamic partnerships among academia,
industry, and government that helped foster today's Internet in its
infancy. For more information about Internet2 network capabilities,
visit
http://networks.internet2.edu.
For more information,
contact:HIMSSJoyce Lofstrom, MS,
APR
Manager, Corporate Communications
312-915-9237 –
jlofstrom@himss.org