Industry Leaders Rally Around Connectivity Advancements in Healthcare

PORTLAND, Ore., May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Industry leaders gathered last week to rally around technological advancements in healthcare that will lead to a fully connected healthcare system as early as 2010. More than 135 decision makers attended the 2004 Healthcare Connectivity Summit, which was sponsored by Kryptiq. The conference showcased new standards being developed for enabling interoperability and portability of medical records, as well as available technologies for integrating clinical information systems to make critical patient data readily available. The Summit featured in-depth discussions by industry leaders and a panel of national speakers, including Mark Leavitt, M.D., PhD, chief medical officer at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS); Joseph Schneider, M.D., fellow at the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP); and Kevin Hutchinson, CEO at SureScripts.

Presentations and videos from the 2004 Healthcare Connectivity Summit are available at http://www.kryptiq.com/ and include a video of Jim Klein, vice president and research director at Gartner Group, smashing a fax machine with a sledge hammer to demonstrate the availability of more efficient communication tools for healthcare, such as secure email.

"One of the biggest challenges facing physicians today is the fragmentation of information needed to make the right decisions, which is often stored in various separate systems," said Luis Machuca, president and CEO of Kryptiq. "The increasing national focus on the adoption of Electronic Medical Record [EMR] systems has raised connectivity to the top of the agenda for the healthcare industry. In order for patients to truly benefit by increased adoption of IT, EMRs must support secure information sharing and integrate with a variety of other clinical systems, such as patient portals."

Industry trends revealed throughout the conference include the following: -- EMRs will be a reality for all Americans by 2010. According to HIMSS, connected clinical IT will become part of the "standard of practice" of medicine by 2010. -- EMRs will surpass practice management systems in spending rates this year. According to Forrester Research Group, $856 million will be spent on the purchase of practice management systems in 2004. For the first time in history, EMRs will surpass practice management systems with projected spending at $1.02 billion in 2004. -- Connectivity is the key ingredient to realizing the true benefits of EMRs and making eVisits viable. Without the ability to share patient information, securely and electronically, medical practices will continue to be burdened by excessive amounts of paper and added costs of inefficient fax and mail communications. According to Dr. Tom Landholt of PatientCare Family Clinic, without improved efficiencies in the front office, doctors will not have time needed to actually spend on eVisits. -- The need for standardization is growing. According to recent studies, there are more than 100 different EMRs available to providers in today's market that are unable to share structured patient information electronically. The Continuity of Care Record (CCR), an emerging XML standard, will enable the exchange of patient data stored in these incompatible systems. Adoption of the standard will greatly enhance physicians' ability to share information and will enable patients to become custodians of their own data. -- ePrescriptions future success lies in integration with EMRs. According to SureScripts, 75 percent of all pharmacies will offer ePrescribing services by the end of the third quarter of 2004. Today, up to 18 percent of physicians use some form of electronic prescribing to reduce phone call volume. The success of these systems lies in the ability to tie the writing and renewal of prescriptions to EMR systems so physicians can automate prescription management as part of the existing workflow. About Kryptiq Corporation

Kryptiq is the leading provider of workflow connectivity solutions for healthcare. Kryptiq streamlines healthcare communications among patients, providers and payers with automation, contract management, and secure messaging technologies. By integrating these solutions with existing systems and applications, Kryptiq enables the trusted transport of health information where and when it is needed. Kryptiq's fast growing customer base includes well-known providers and payers, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Providence Health Systems, Capital Region Healthcare, Austin Diagnostic Clinic, and Michigan State University. For more information, visit the company on the Web at http://www.kryptiq.com/.

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For more information, press only: Lisa MacKenzie MacKenzie Marketing Group lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com 503-225-0725

Kryptiq Corporation

CONTACT: Lisa MacKenzie of MacKenzie Marketing Group, +1-503-225-0725,
or lisam@mackenzie-marketing.com, for Kryptiq Corporation

Web site: http://www.kryptiq.com/