Highmark Selects Verizon to Help Develop First Statewide Health Information Exchange to Improve Patient Care Through Sharing of Information

Highmark Inc. on Tuesday announced an agreement pursuant to this agreement which Verizon Enterprise Solutions will deploy and manage the research infrastructure for Highmark's new health information exchange that will in the near future link health care organizations across western Pennsylvania that serve millions of people.  Highmark as well plans to extend its HIE across the state over the at once two years.  

As the push to transform health care through research takes hold, health information exchanges are gaining acceptance.  Health care organizations of all sizes and types are using HIEs to overcome the long-standing obstacle of incompatible health IT platforms and software used to store patient data.  By facilitating the secure and compliant retrieval and sharing of patient clinical data among participating hospitals, clinics, physician practices and health care plans, the innovation helps enable the quality, safety and efficiency of patient care.

The Highmark HIE will be powered

The Highmark HIE will be powered by the Verizon Health Information Exchange, an interoperable health IT platform delivered via Verizon's cloud-computing infrastructure.  The platform consolidates patient clinical data from disparate providers and translates the information into a standardized format for secure access over the Web, offering health care professionals an effective way to obtain a more complete view of a patient's health history.  The platform uses strong identity-access-management controls to provide security for sensitive patient information and enables members to retain their existing systems, processes and workflows, thereby reducing the need for additional capital expenditures. 

Highmark as well has leveraged the expertise of Accenture, a global leader in management consulting and innovation services, to assist health care providers with connecting to Highmark's HIE, which has been in development for the past 18 months.

Highmark Inc., based in Pittsburgh, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. Highmark serves 4.8 million members in Pennsylvania and West Virginia through the company's health care benefits business and is one of the largest Blue plans in the nation. Highmark has 19,500 employees across the country. For more than 70 years, Highmark's commitment to the community has consistently been among the company's highest priorities as it strives to positively impact the communities where we do business. For more information, visit www.highmark.com.

Verizon Communications Inc., headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale clients.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, with near 109 million total connections nationwide.  Verizon as well provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions to clients in more than 150 countries, including all of the Fortune 500.  A Dow 30 company with $111 billion in 2011 earnings, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of almost 194,000.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.