Mass. Blue Cross Blue Shield Picks Sigaba For HIPAA, Other Messaging

08/11/2003

Secure Data in Motion, dba Sigaba, a provider of message management solutions, says Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts has chosen Sigaba for secure messaging. Sigaba says its solutions “will enable the organization to safely send—via email or IM—information such as prescription information, records and files, lab reports, statements, and appointment confirmations electronically to patients and other medical providers and business partners. Sigaba says its secure messaging solutions “will also safeguard and manage the handling and transmission of sensitive electronic patient data, known as Protected Health Information (PHI), from unauthorized use or disclosure, as mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc. will provide patients the assurance and peace of mind that their information is protected.”

“We plan to deploy Sigaba secure messaging in a variety of ways,” said Frank Enfanto, vice president, Delivery Operations & Information Security of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc. “Protecting PHI is one of our greatest challenges, because a wide range of individuals need to access this information across our large, dispersed healthcare network and this makes assuring the protection of the information a daunting task. Sigaba give us an easy and effective solution for protecting the flow of this information, including that of treatment, payments and other operations, while ensuring tracking of it as well, as mandated by HIPAA.” Enfanto continued: “Sigaba won us over based on many factors, including ease of use and auditability. The flexibility of its ‘Send Anywhere’ solution serves our very complex community of senders and receivers, and Sigaba’s early incorporation of SAML and Liberty specifications for federated authentication protects our investment and future use of this powerful secure messaging solution.” Sigaba Send Anywhere allows organizations to securely communicate with any recipient, with no client-side software required. Sigaba says Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts also selected it “based on the following criteria:

Seamless integration of secure messaging solution into existing network, security, and email infrastructure…

Easy to use, deploy and manage, with rich policy, audit and management capabilities…

Affordability and easy to extend to any organization or individual…

Integrated content and virus scanning, as well as messaging archive/retrieval compliance solutions.”

“Secure, encrypted and authenticated email, instant messaging and document delivery are critical to protecting private information, which is why healthcare organizations, government agencies and corporations are identifying this one of their most critical issues or areas for security spending in 2003,” said Tanya Candia, vice president of global marketing and chief strategist, Sigaba. “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts has been smart in the evaluation process, and has demonstrated that it is a forward-looking organization that plans to authenticate users, such as patients, doctors, nurses, lab and medical assistants, billing clerks and even front desk personnel, using SAML.” Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts will begin the deployment of Sigaba secure messaging this month in its Boston headquarters.