Partnership brings Expanded Services and Applications
to the Leading Physician Internet Authentication Service
Chicago, IL, and Mountain View, CA – April 25, 2001 - The American
Medical Association (AMA), and VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN), the leading
provider of Internet trust services, today announced a partnership to
further develop and enhance the AMA's Internet ID service. As a result
of this partnership, VeriSign is the AMA's exclusive technology provider
for the AMA Internet ID service, which is the only nationwide system
available to authenticate physicians to enable secure Internet communications
and transactions. The enhanced service will be the first Internet authentication
offering built on VeriSign's recently announced next generation trust
services, which provide a standards-based, open framework that makes
it easy for developers to integrate advanced security functions into
online applications. The partnership will help accelerate the development
of e-health applications that can utilize AMA Internet IDs, the first
of which will be a new secure e-mail service scheduled for release in
the third quarter.
"The AMA's partnership with VeriSign offers
access to new technology that will enhance the AMA Internet ID, providing
physicians with a trusted environment and a host of new features and
benefits that will make it easier for them to shift more patient-sensitive
work online," said Robert A. Musacchio, Ph.D., AMA senior vice
president of business and membership.
The AMA Internet ID service was initially created
from innovative authentication security technology developed by Intel
Corporation. VeriSign licensed the Intel-developed technology and will
go forward with the AMA to expand the service. AMA Internet IDs became
available in December 2000 to protect physician privacy and confidentiality
when online medical information is sent or received.
Physicians routinely cite security as their main
concern in using the Internet to communicate and conduct transactions.
With this service, physicians can more fully realize the potential of
the Internet by using their AMA Internet IDs. These ensure security,
in a wide range of clinical and administrative web-based applications
that are currently part of physician's daily workflow, such as claims,
patient charting and e-prescriptions. Since physicians conduct business
in a variety of places including offices, hospitals and home offices,
the enhanced service features roaming capabilities to give physicians
the freedom to perform online tasks securely from any location. It will
also allow for delegation or assignment of selected privileges to a
physician's staff, enabling for the first time a complete secure online
practice.
"Physicians, practitioners and clinicians need
a centralized trusted infrastructure to meet current demands for secure
communications and to move e-health care to the next level of service,"
said Anil Pereira, senior vice president and group general manager of
VeriSign's Enterprise and Service Provider division. "By leveraging
VeriSign's next generation trust services, the new service is well positioned
to have a significant impact on the creation of a frictionless e-health
economy by making it easy to enable the use of digital certificates
in e-health applications."
The service provided by VeriSign and the AMA will
offer the following features and benefits:
- Managed outsourced
service alleviates responsibility from health care organizations to
authenticate physicians
- Real-time authentication
automatically confirms validity of AMA Internet IDs
- Roaming technology
enables physicians to encrypt or digitally sign information from any
desktop with Internet access
- Delegation capability
allows physicians to allocate select tasks to office staff.
VeriSign's managed trust services are designed to
rapidly assist health care organizations and application vendors in
their efforts to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA) regulations.
Availability
The AMA's Internet ID service is available today and the enhanced service
is scheduled for availability in the third quarter. The new secure e-mail
services and digital signature handling capability will be available
as part of the service in the third quarter.
About the American Medical Association
Founded 154 years ago, the American Medical Association is the largest
medical association in the world and is the nation's principal advocate
for patients and their physicians. It sets standards for the profession
of medicine and is an influential leader in the continuing national
debate over health care. The AMA's work includes the development and
promotion of standards in medical practice, research and education;
a strong advocacy agenda on behalf of patients and physicians; and the
commitment to provide accurate, timely information and discourse on
matters important to the health of America. For more information, please
visit www.ama-assn.org.
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.
Learn more: Healthcare
Authentication Services
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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