ICSA Labs and Medical Transcription Industry Association Create Consortium to Promote Secure Exchange of Dictated Medical Information

ICSA Labs and Medical Transcription Industry Association Create Consortium to
Promote Secure Exchange of Dictated Medical Information
New Organization to Drive Common Standards for Electronic Sharing of
Physician-Dictated Patient Notes; Initiative Will Help Spur Adoption of
Electronic Medical Records

MECHANICSBURG, Pa., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- In an initiative to help accelerate
the adoption of electronic health care records, ICSA Labs and the Medical
Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) have formed a consortium to devise
common standards and practices for the creation and sharing of digitized
transcriptions of physician-dictated patient notes.

These notes, which doctors dictate to provide in-depth detail of their
patients' care and treatment, are a key element of electronic medical records.
However, converting transcriptions into a secure, digitized format for
electronic sharing with other doctors, hospitals and health care providers is
nearly impossible without a single agreed-upon format for the exchange of this
information.

The Medical Transcription Service Consortium (MTSC) -- the group formed by
ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon Business, and the MTIA -- will
develop a common framework for the digitization of transcribed dictated
records, including interoperability standards for the seamless and secure
exchange of data among health care providers.

The MTIA estimates that its member companies annually create and
electronically archive more than 2.4 billion transcribed medical records,
involving more than 70 percent of all U.S. physicians.

In addition to ICSA Labs and the MTIA, the charter members of the consortium
are Verizon and the following medical transcription companies: MD-IT,
MedQuist, MxSecure, Sten-Tel and Webmedx.

George Japak, managing director, ICSA Labs, said, "Interoperability, privacy
and security are challenges that hospitals, physicians and clinics face when
trying to exchange records electronically. The goal of the consortium is to
help advance the health care industry through the digital exchange of
physician-dictated notes in a common format so that information technology
becomes an enabler for better patient care and greater efficiency among health
care providers."

In a related development, the MTSC announced that Verizon Business has been
selected to develop the new IT platform that will securely carry the digitized
transcribed notes of physicians for consortium members. It will be designed
and deployed using security best practices, allowing for objective testing and
certification for privacy, security and interoperability.

Peter Preziosi, the MTIA's chief executive officer, said, "Medical
transcription is a critical part of the U.S. health care industry, and the
creation of the consortium will help the industry increase the electronic
exchange of patient data through a common set of standards.

"By enabling the sector to move toward quicker adoption of standards-compliant
health records, a key goal of the federal government, the health care industry
will be able to accelerate the use of electronic health records and ensure
greater access to the critical patient information among all health care
providers," Preziosi said.

About ICSA Labs

ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon Business, offers vendor-neutral
testing and certification of security products. Many of the world's top
security vendors submit their products for testing and certification at ICSA
Labs. Businesses rely on ICSA Labs to authoritatively set and apply objective
testing and certification criteria for measuring product compliance and
reliability. For more information about ICSA Labs, please visit:
www.icsalabs.com.

About Medical Transcription Industry Association

The not-for-profit Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) is the
world's largest trade association serving medical transcription service
operators. Its mission is to create an environment in which medical
transcription companies can prosper, grow, and deliver the highest level of
healthcare documentation services. Find more information at www.mtia.com.

About Verizon Business

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a global
leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise
with one of the world's most connected IP networks to deliver award-winning
communications, IT, information security and network solutions. We securely
connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers,
partners, suppliers and employees -- enabling them to increase productivity
and efficiency and help preserve the environment. Many of the world's largest
businesses and governments -- including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and
thousands of government agencies and educational institutions -- rely on our
professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their
business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

SOURCE Verizon Business

Kevin W. Irland, +1-703-886-1117, kevin.w.irland@verizon.com, or Clare Ward,
+44(0)118-905-3501, clare.ward@uk.verizonbusiness.com, or Junaidah Dahlan,
+65-6248-6827, junaidah.dahlan@sg.verizonbusiness.com, all of Verizon
Business