IFMC Awarded New Privacy and Security Contract

June 7, 2006

West Des Moines, IA - The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 34 states, including Iowa, have signed contracts to work as part of the national Health Information Security and Privacy Collaboration (HISPC) to address privacy and security policy questions affecting health information exchange (HIE).

The Iowa Foundation for Medical Care (IFMC) has been designated by the Governor's Office as the lead agency for the project, and as such, is coordinating the efforts of an interdisciplinary team that will report findings to RTI," said Mike Speight, senior director of operations at IFMC. IFMC is already starting its work on the 11-month project. “We are assembling our team of experts.”

RTI International, Inc. (RTI) is working in partnership with the National Governors Association to oversee HISPC, which will work on privacy and security issues with a multi-disciplinary team of experts in 34 states. Earlier this year, governors of each state were given the opportunity to submit a proposal to manage the state-level effort.

IFMC and its partners will work with state officials, health care professionals, patients, businesses, the legal community and other stakeholders: identify variations in privacy and security business practices, laws and regulations affecting electronic clinical HIE; develop best practices and proposed solutions to address identified challenges; and develop implementation plans for the proposed solutions.

RTI's contract is jointly funded and managed through HHS' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the National Resource Center for Health Information Technology at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). "This work on privacy and security will leave an indelible mark on the ultimate formulation of a national health information network," said AHRQ Director Carolyn Clancy, M.D.

For more information on HISPC, visit RTI's Web site:
http://www.rti.org/page.cfm?objectid=E41DD873-3726-49E8-9BE9AD24050092EA

Media Contact:
Deb Innis 515-440-8224