NCHICA Welcomes Microsoft as Newest Corporate Member

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - Aug. 13, 2013 - PRLog -- RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC (August 13, 2013) – The North Carolina Healthcare Information and Communications Alliance, Inc. (NCHICA (http://www.nchica.org/)) welcomes Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com) Corporation to the consortium as its newest corporate member. Microsoft joins more than 300 organizations representing healthcare providers, payers, professionals associations, government agencies, consultants and business partners who supply technological innovation to the economy’s rapidly growing healthcare sector.

“Microsoft is committed to the healthcare industry and we want to be involved in addressing the common IT issues that our customers face,” said John Squire, Senior Director of US Health and Life Science Partners. “NCHICA is recognized for its national leadership on IT issues from interface standards to support privacy and security in compliance with HIPAA. Microsoft is committed to solving these issues together with our customers and partners and we see our NCHICA membership as a way of enriching that dialogue.”

“NCHICA and its members have been collaborating since 1994 to promote the use of information technology in healthcare, with a particular focus on the privacy and security of electronic health information,” said Holt Anderson, NCHICA Executive Director. “We are extremely pleased to have Microsoft join and support our collective initiatives. Their industry leadership and commitment to supporting a trustworthy environment will be a great asset to our efforts.”

NCHICA operates at both the state and federal level as a convener, educator, innovator and catalyst. NCHICA’s taskforces, workshops, workgroups, forums and conferences provide a nationally recognized collaborative venue for developing sound policies to protect patient privacy. The NCHICA’s Privacy and Security Officials Workgroup has published a number of documents to help organizations comply with the HIPAA and HITECH Act regulations to protect the privacy and security of health information. Recent documents include a model Business Associate Agreement, Vendor Management Policy Template, a HITECH Act Breach Notification Risk Assessment Tool and its mobile application equivalent; and Bring Your Own Device Considerations and Recommendations for healthcare provider organizations.

 About NCHICA:

 

NCHICA is a nonprofit consortium dedicated to accelerating the transformation of the U.S. healthcare system through the effective use of information technology, informatics and analytics. Members include leading organizations in healthcare, research and information technology. For more information, visit www.nchica.org.