Verizon is a global leader in driving better business outcomes for enterprises and government agencies. Verizon delivers integrated IT and communications solutions via its high-IQ global IP and mobility networks to enable businesses to securely access information, share content and communicate. Courtesy of Verizon

New York, USA – April 5, 2011

Verizon and MEDfx, a leading provider of health information technology, have successfully implemented a pilot program enabling health care providers that still use paper records to easily convert them to a digital format and share them with other authorized providers.

To say the healthcare industry faces unprecedented changes would be an understatement. From shifts in demographics and technologies, to government reforms and increased expectations for care, healthcare organizations are confronting significant challenges. The successful ones are working to do more than survive this perfect storm. They’re working to thrive. And to do so, they’re looking to technology partners like Verizon for help. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

The program addresses long-standing issues that have blocked the widespread adoption of electronic health care records: the complexity and expense that health care providers - especially small practices and individual physicians - face in adopting an electronic system, and the incompatibility of many health IT systems.

In today’s evolving health care industry you need access to patient health information at the point of care, regardless of your location. You also need to know patient information is secure and available across disparate healthcare information systems. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

In addition, the program is one of the first successful health information exchange-based demonstrations to integrate two key federal government health IT initiatives designed to improve care management through secure, two-way exchange of patient health information.

In today’s evolving health care industry you need access to patient health information at the point of care, regardless of your location. You also need to know patient information is secure and available across disparate healthcare information systems. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

The participants in the pilot are Dominion Medical Associates, an independent minority-owned physician practice in Richmond, Va.; CenVaNet, a health care provider network with 900 physicians and 11 not-for-profit hospitals serving central Virginia; and MedVirginia, a community-based health information exchange.

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

Under the pilot, Dominion Medical Associates scans paper-based care-management documents of diabetes patients and sends the documents over the Internet to CenVaNet care managers, via a MEDfx-provided physician portal.

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

The portal uses a set of common standards and protocols to digitize and securely transfer the care-management documents, making them accessible on a wide variety of health IT systems.

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

The data is then tagged and stored in the MedVirginia Solution® health information exchange.
As a result, care managers from Dominion Medical Associates-CenVaNet-MedVirginia are now able to share, store and retrieve encrypted patient data and better coordinate patient care for the treatment of diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

Verizon is providing the essential certificate authority - digital identifiers that verify trusted senders and recipients - to help prevent data from being shared with unauthorized personnel.

In addition, the digitized records can be printed out and stored in Dominion Medical Associates' current paper-based records system and easily migrated to an electronic health record system once Dominion implements its platform.

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

"This pilot program has great significance because many health care providers still use paper records due to the time and expense involved in deploying electronic record-keeping platforms," said Dr. Peter Tippett, vice president - security and industry solutions, Verizon.
"By demonstrating that federal guidelines for health IT adoption and secure electronic data exchange actually work, this pilot program is leading the way to the widespread adoption of electronic medical records and the transformation of the U.S. health care system."

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

The pilot leverages two initiatives spearheaded by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology:

• The Direct Project, a set of standards, protocols and policies, which specifies a simple, secure, scalable method for participants to send authenticated, encrypted health information directly to known, trusted recipients over the Internet.

• NwHIN Exchange, a suite of open-source, downloadable software packages, including a gateway and enterprise services platform that enables regional, state and federal health information exchanges to interconnect and securely share health information.

Verizon Health Information Exchange. The Time for Healthcare Transformation is Now. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

Shannon Lodge, director-program development, CenVaNet, said:
"By working with Dominion Medical Associates on this trial, we are enabling the physician practice to deliver better care coordination for patients while maintaining current workflows and processes. It is also providing tangible insights into the value of sharing health information digitally and is helping pave the way for Dominion Medical Associates' migration to electronic health records."


Verizon Connected Healthcare Solutions


Verizon Connected Healthcare Solutions offers a comprehensive portfolio of managed, IT and consulting services for the health care industry to help transform patient care delivery, enhance access to care and better manage costs.

Verizon is a global leader in driving better business outcomes for enterprises and government agencies.

Verizon Healthcare Information Exchange. The mobilization of electronic healthcare information across organizations within a community, region, state, or nation and among disparate systems is only part of the solution. Verizon HIE is a comprehensive, secure, interoperability platform solution that provides Health Information Exchange as-a-service, virtually anywhere at anytime you have Internet access. It includes all the key components necessary to establish a health information exchange, including a clinical portal, messaging gateway, record locator service, cross-enterprise master patient index, and clinical messaging, among other key components that are used to maintain the meaning and security of the data being exchanged. Courtesy of Verizon Healthcare

Verizon delivers integrated IT and communications solutions via its high-IQ global IP and mobility networks to enable businesses to securely access information, share content and communicate.

Verizon is rapidly transforming to a cloud-based "everything-as-a-service" delivery model that will put the power of enterprise-class solutions within the reach of every business.

Find out more at

www.verizonbusiness.com  


Verizon Communications Inc.


Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.

Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 94.1 million customers nationwide.

Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.

A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 194,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of $106.6 billion.

For more information, visit

www.verizon.com  


Media Contact:

Kevin W. Irland,
703-886-1117


Source: Verizon

http://newscenter.verizon.com/  



Michael T. Stefanski

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Verizon Telecom and Business

Michael T. Stefanski Courtesy of Verizon Business

Mike Stefanski is senior vice president and chief financial officer for Verizon, responsible for financial planning, analysis and reporting, and strategic development activities for the company’s consumer and business groups.

Previously, Stefanski was senior vice president and chief financial officer for Verizon’s consumer group.

Prior to that, Stefanski served as vice president and controller at Verizon Wireless, where he was responsible for accounting, external financial reporting and financial operations for the wireless business unit.

Stefanski has held numerous management positions of increasing responsibility since joining Bell Atlantic Corporation in 1990, including internal audit, strategy and planning, and corporate finance.

Before joining Bell Atlantic Corporation, Stefanski worked at Ernst & Young in Philadelphia, Pa.

Stefanski is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration from Villanova University.



Peter Tippett, M.D., Ph.D.

Vice President, Industry Solutions and Security Practices, Verizon Business

Peter Tippett, M.D., Ph.D. Courtesy of Verizon Business

Peter Tippett is vice president of Verizon Business’ industry solutions and security practices. In this role, he leads a team of industry experts that develop solutions for the education, energy and utilities, financial services, government, health care, retail and other vertical markets.
He is also responsible for the company’s extensive portfolio of security solutions.

Tippett serves as Verizon’s chief medical officer and is the chief scientist of ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon that tests and certifies products.

In his prior role, Tippett was vice president of technology and innovation for Verizon Business.
He took up this role following the 2007 acquisition of managed security services leader Cybertrust.

He has also served as chairman of MD-IT, a rapidly growing health care information technology company, since 1998.

Before Cybertrust, Tippett was the chief executive officer of NCSA, then ICSA Labs, and was chairman of TruSecure, the largest private U.S. security services company.

In the early 1990s, he directed the Enterprise and Security products group at Symantec.

Prior to that, he worked in software development and is widely credited with creating the first commercial anti-virus product that later became Norton AntiVirus.

Early in his IT career, as founder and chief executive officer of software company Certus International, Tippett pioneered and commercialized a string of now-common technologies, including what is now called the “rescue disk,” code signing, trusted file execution, anomaly detection, and aspects of mail merge and the “un-do” command.

He also created and sold the first cyber insurance to enterprises.

Before the first personal computer was marketed during the early 1980s, Tippett ran one of the largest open source, or shareware, bulletin boards.

Tippett served on the President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (2003-2005) to guide U.S. efforts in health care IT, information security and computational sciences research.

InfoWorld recognized Tippett as one of the 25 most influential chief technology officers for 2002.

He also won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Tippett is frequently quoted and has written many articles and papers on enterprise information technology, health IT and information security.

He was the publisher of Information Security Magazine for its first six years.

He has worked as an emergency room doctor and as a helicopter emergency physician in Ohio and California, and still carries a current California physician and surgeon license.

Tippett also worked for Nobel Laureates Robert Bruce Merrifield (chemistry, 1984) and Stanford Moore (chemistry, 1972) at Rockefeller University.

He began his career as a commercial pilot and flight instructor.

Tippett holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Kalamazoo College, and an M.D. and a doctorate in biochemistry, both from Case Western Reserve University.
He is also board certified in internal medicine.



Bob Toohey

President, Verizon Business

Bob Toohey Courtesy of Verizon Business

Bob Toohey is president of Verizon’s global business unit with responsibility for marketing, sales, professional services, service delivery and the customer experience for global enterprise, mid-sized business and government customers.

Previously, Toohey was senior vice president of global customer care and services for Verizon Business, responsible for customer service, delivery and ongoing management of the company’s large-business, mid-tier, government, education and wholesale customers worldwide.

Toohey’s team ensured the timely delivery and management of customer solutions while driving new customer service capabilities and continuous improvement.

In his prior role, Toohey was senior vice president of human resources and communications for Verizon Business, responsible for developing and implementing global human resources policies, strategies and programs designed to drive workforce engagement and develop a high-performance, service-oriented culture.

Toohey played a key role in the integration of MCI and Cybertrust, and was instrumental in implementing a solutions-based, customer-focused approach to sales and service at Verizon Business.

Toohey began his career at GTE in 1988, holding various positions of increasing responsibility in finance, operations and human resources.

Toohey serves as vice chairman of the Board of Directors for Atlantic Health, and is a member of the Board of Advisors for Highroads Inc.

He is also a member of the Board of Visitors for Northeastern University College of Business Administration.

Toohey holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from Northeastern University.


Source: Verizon

http://www.verizonbusiness.com/about/company/executives/  



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