Cisco will work alongside two of the four consortia selected, one led by Accenture and the other by IBM, to unite technology developers and healthcare providers in local healthcare markets in the construction of a prototype network for the secure sharing of electronic health information among healthcare providers.
Each of the consortia will also work towards the seamless exchange of information between three regional healthcare markets while establishing an infrastructure for the sharing of electronic information.
Identifying Cisco as a key player in achieving interoperability, Dr Jeffrey Rideout, Cisco vice president of (IBSG) insisted, By teaming with Accenture and IBM, Cisco can help develop state-of-the-art networks that are highly secure, scalable and flexible – all essential attributes for Medical Grade Networks.
The main areas the prototypes are designed to test are patient identification and information locator services; user authentication, access control and other security aspects, as well as test the feasibility of large-scale deployment. The design and implementation of the network prototypes will lend significant insight into the extent to which technology will impact future transformation of the healthcare system.
