ORLANDO, Florida, February 22 /PRNewswire/ --

- Liberty Alliance Launches Public Special Interest Group to Enable an Internationally Interoperable Healthcare Identity Management and Information Exchange System

Liberty Alliance, the global identity consortium working to build a more trusted internet for consumers, governments and businesses worldwide, today announced the launch of a global public forum formed to develop an interoperable, secure and privacy-respecting information exchange system for the healthcare sector. The Liberty Alliance Health Identity Management Special Interest Group (HIM SIG) is leveraging the Liberty Alliance model of addressing the technology, business and privacy aspects of digital identity management to meet the unique identity management and regulatory challenges facing the international healthcare industry today.

Co-chaired by John Fraser, CEO, MEDNET USA and Pete Palmer, Security and Cryptography Architect, Wells Fargo, the group currently includes over 30 members from around the world representing the education, government, healthcare and technology sectors. Members are working to address how the healthcare industry will deliver secure identity management solutions that meet global regulatory mandates and ensure patient privacy. The public group is working closely with the Liberty Identity Assurance Expert Group to ensure requirements for standardized and certified identity assurance levels in the healthcare sector meet criteria established in the policy-based Liberty Identity Assurance Framework.

"Liberty's proven interoperable technologies and standardized policy frameworks make it easier for healthcare organizations to protect sensitive data, meet compliance mandates and put patients in better control of their identity information," said Fraser. "The Health Identity Management group is a significant opportunity for individuals and organizations to come together and participate in the development of an interoperable, secure and privacy- respecting international healthcare exchange system."

About the HIM SIG

The public HIM SIG expands the work of the Liberty Alliance eHealth SIG and is designed to foster collaboration among Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs), Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and all organizations interested in driving an internationally interoperable healthcare identity management and information exchange system. The HIM SIG is working with healthcare organizations worldwide and leveraging the work of Liberty's four global Expert Groups and numerous Special Interest Groups to ensure broad industry participation. Information about Liberty's membership structure and Expert and Special Interest Groups is available at http://www.projectliberty.org/liberty/about/structure Information about the HIM SIG is available at http://wiki.projectliberty.org/index.php/Health_Identity_Management_SIG

CONTACT: Russ DeVeau +1-508-487-6102 - Office +1-908-251-1549 - Mobile russ@projectliberty.org Web site: http://www.projectliberty.org http://www.projectliberty.org/liberty/about/structure

Russ DeVeau for Liberty Alliance, office, +1-508-487-6102, mobile, +1-908-251-1549, russ@projectliberty.org