Verizon expands healthcare identity services

Verizon has revealed enhancements to its Universal Identity Services (UIS) healthcare platform to allow for easy but secure access to electronic health records (EHRs) and health information exchanges (HIEs) on mobile devices, reports eWeek.

Unveiled in November 2010, UIS is a managed service from Verizon's Terremark IT services subsidiary. UIS is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) utility that allows healthcare professionals to access documents using medical identity credentials.

Verizon now provides legally binding digital signature capabilities for authenticating signatures on clinical documents, states Fierce Health IT.

The company's new ID Message Centre allows users to monitor their digital signature activities through a mobile application or optional Web-based portal. Providers can use their smartphones or other mobile devices to gain access to Verizon's identity management features.

The Verizon service supports the Drug Enforcement Administration guidelines for the prescribing of controlled substances. It also complies with the Food and Drug Administration's digital signature guidelines for the submission of electronic records.

In addition, Verizon's healthcare identity platform incorporates the standards established by the Initiative for Open Authentication, an industry group working towards an open, standards-based system to support the issue of multi-factor identity credentials, writes Healthcare IT News.