Securely connects
Physicians, Insurers and Providers in real-time to digitally sign authorization,
claims and referrals and complete trusted healthcare transactions
Mountain View, CA, May 1, 2001 -- VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN),
the leading provider of Internet trust services, today announced that
MedUnite, a service company founded by the seven leading US health plans,
which serve more than 54 million members and contract with 191,000 physicians,
has selected VeriSign's Healthcare Trust Services to secure its new
online healthcare transaction service. Leveraging VeriSign's managed
digital certificate services, the MedUnite service will securely connect
physicians to insurers and providers in real-time over the Internet
to digitally sign and submit claims, check on claims status, verify
patient eligibility and benefits, and obtain referrals and authorizations.
"Our goal is to make health care business transactions
as easy as using an automated teller machine," said David Cox,
CEO of MedUnite. "By leveraging VeriSign's services, we are not
only addressing privacy and security issues, but providing a solid trust
infrastructure that allows our customers to use our services with confidence."
VeriSign's Healthcare Trust Services enable secure
and confidential health transactions through the issuance of digital
credentials that identify patients, physicians and trading partners
online. Digital certificates serve as electronic credentials that enable
encrypted communications and legally binding, valid digital signatures.
With the MedUnite service, physicians and payors can digitally sign
referrals, authorizations and other documents requiring a signature
from a standard Internet browser. Digital signatures and digital certificates
also support non-repudiation, which means that if a dispute arises,
they provide evidence for litigation or alternative dispute resolution
mechanisms such as arbitration to show that the transaction actually
occurred and to bind a particular individual to that transaction.
"Facilitating and processing billions of dollars
of healthcare transactions among multiple parties requires a scalable,
interoperable trust infrastructure," said Anil Pereira, senior
vice president and group general manager of VeriSign's Enterprise and
Service Provider division. "MedUnite's selection of VeriSign's
Healthcare Trust Services sets a new bar for the industry in creating
a trusted environment to conduct patient-sensitive critical transactions
at a significant savings to the physicians, payors and the insured."
MedUnite's multipayor, single-entry claims solution
will not only reduce costs and improve efficiency, but also provide
a secure online environment that will make physician practices comfortable
in shifting their claims processing to the Internet. Besides mandating
standards for the electronic processing of claims-related transactions,
the recently approved regulations under the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act, or "HIPAA," also call for the establishment
of privacy-conscious business practices and establishing penalties for
institutions that have lapses.
VeriSign's Healthcare Trust Services offer the following
benefits:
- Digital credentials
for healthcare professionals, patients, and administrators providing
assurances of identity, data integrity and non-repudiation for highly
sensitive patient-information transmitted over the Internet;
- Risk Management services
to help mitigate liability when exchanging clinical or financial information;
- Validation services
allowing individuals and organizations to verify in real-time the identities
of other parties engaged in a healthcare transaction, providing digital
records and audit trails of these transactions, and generating digital
receipts, that provide evidence to bind transactions to an individual
or organization and provide assurances that the content of the transaction
has not been modified since transmission, as in the case of a drug dosage;
and
- Trusted Authorization
Interoperability Services that support the "chain of trust"
HIPAA requirements for how parties from different organizations agree
to exchange electronic data securely and confidentially. Trusted, wide-scale
e-commerce in healthcare can only operate successfully in a commercial
environment in which practices, policies, security, standards, audit
provisions, and liability-sharing agreements are recognized by all participants,
thus ensuring a consistent level of performance risk management.
About MedUnite
MedUnite is a San Diego-based service company developing real-time,
Internet-based connectivity enabling physicians, insurers and other
healthcare constituents to efficiently and economically handle administrative
transactions. Its open technology model enables confidential, secure
access for all providers and insurers. For more information, visit www.medunite.com
or call 1.877.482.8000.
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:VRSN) is the leading provider of trusted infrastructure
services to Web sites, enterprises, electronic commerce service providers
and individuals. The Company's domain name, digital certificate and
payment services provide the critical web identity, authentication and
transaction infrastructure that online businesses require to conduct
secure e-commerce and communications. VeriSign's services are available
through its Web site (www.verisign.com)
or through its direct sales force and reseller partners around the world.
Statements in this announcement other than
historical data and information constitute forward-looking statements
within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause VeriSign's actual results
to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking
statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others,
VeriSign's limited operating history under its current business structure,
uncertainty of future revenue and profitability and potential fluctuations
in quarterly operating results, increased competition, risks associated
with the company's international business and risks related to potential
security breaches. More information about potential factors that could
affect the company's business and financial results is included in VeriSign's
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, especially in the
company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2000. VeriSign undertakes no obligation to update any of the forward-looking
statements after the date of this press release.
VeriSign is a registered trademark of VeriSign,
Inc. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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