Diversinet Expands Mobile Healthcare Focus
Company Provides a Connected and Protected Healthcare Solution For Patients, Healthcare Providers and Payers
TORONTO, March 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Leveraging years of development in secure applications for the mobile world, Diversinet Corp. (TSX Venture: DIV, OTC Bulletin Board: DVNTF) is increasing its focus on secure mobile healthcare, the company announced today at CTIA Wireless 2010.
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"We will now concentrate on expanding our development of applications that securely connect people with their healthcare information, providers and payers – in a protected manner anytime, anywhere," said Albert Wahbe, Diversinet chairman and CEO.
Elements of the company's new healthcare strategy include:
- Introducing new products and product enhancements matched to the needs of the mHealth industry.
- MobiSecure® SMS, a new product that enables healthcare providers to exchange sensitive information instantly with patients via any mobile device in a secure and trusted environment. The product is targeted for telemedicine and provider case/disease management.
- MobiSecure Wallet and Vault R4.0, with advanced personalization tools, such as over-the-air (OTA) branding and new mobile software development kits (SDKs). This product, announced today, enables healthcare providers to quickly launch branded versions for their patients/members, allowing access to critical and sensitive health information.
- Bluetooth® connectivity to medical diagnostic devices through MobiSecure Wallet and Vault. Planned for release in the second half of this year, this feature will allow collection of additional medical information, reduce user errors, and increase the reliability of data received.
- Creating customized portals to support mobile health applications for physicians and healthcare providers, such as the Mihealth family health project in Canada to deliver better care at lower cost.
- Expanding Diversinet's network of healthcare partners and introducing an expanded trial program for potential new healthcare partners through a model that offers companies trials with minimal commitment.
- Retaining Comunicano, Inc., a leading strategic communications agency, to develop and deliver a comprehensive communications program for the new direction. Diversinet also recently engaged Connected Health Strategies to support business development in the United States and globally.
"Our mobile expertise puts us in a position to meet the growing demand for secure application solutions in the healthcare industry," Wahbe said. "We have invested more than $80 million in our MobiSecure technology platform over the last 13 years and have built up a significant patent portfolio. Given government and industry mandates to move to a more efficient and effective electronic system of healthcare information management, we believe this is the ideal time to focus our solutions on healthcare providers, payers and patients."
"We have extended our pilot of our Mihealth system from Diversinet based on patients' and physicians' very positive response to how it is linking patients, physicians and clinical workers," said Dr. Wendy Graham, a lead physician with North Bay's Family Health Team in Canada. "Mihealth is enhancing patient engagement, awareness and participation in their care, as well as helping us improve relationships with patients while streamlining practice management."
mHealth Market Fit
Diversinet's solutions are highly tailored to the unique needs of the healthcare system, including regulatory requirements concerning patient information privacy such as HIPAA. Diversinet's technology delivers versatility within a complete range of offerings.
The company stands out in providing:
- Strong mobile security, encryption, two-factor authentication for servers and clients, and digital certificates
- Extensive device coverage, spanning all leading mobile devices and platforms
- Breadth of solutions, from secure messaging to complex health transactions
- Support for both patient-entered and physician-verified records
- Support for various business rules and branding to allow organizations to customize their offerings
- Intercommunication, which supports person-to-server, server-to-person and person-to-person secure communications
Since late 2008, Diversinet has been providing users centralized access to their personal healthcare information, from test results to insurance information, via virtually any mobile device with Internet access. The new SMS product opens doors to the many mobile users without data plans, on a broad range of available wireless devices.
Researchers at the U.S. Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) are using AllOne Mobile technology (that is based on Diversinet's MobiSecure platform) to determine if wounded warriors have a better recovery if they're in frequent contact with their case managers.
Diversinet's applications enable patients to securely and easily access and update their information, wherever they may be, whether in the doctor's office, at the pharmacy, or while traveling. Medical entries can indicate whether they were verified by a physician, ensuring future providers' willingness to base treatment on the data. Diversinet products have received awards for innovation and for their security solutions for healthcare.
With just a few clicks on a mobile device, patients can use Diversinet's solutions to access and share with trusted third parties vital information about allergies, medication usage and medical history. The company's applications can also be used to extend case management, such as reminding people to take their medication or quickly and confidentially interact with health insurance companies and their chosen medical team.
Healthcare providers and payers can quickly customize Diversinet applications to meet their own unique needs. Diversinet technology allows providers to consolidate data from multiple sources into one holistic view. Physicians can use the applications to monitor patients' treatment compliance and progress, including viewing results from home monitoring devices.
For additional peace of mind, all information and communications are connected and protected by Diversinet's highly secure architecture, which allows organizations to remain HIPAA compliant.
Growing Market Need
Numerous studies demonstrate the increasing need for access to secure electronic healthcare.
- A 2008 survey by Credant Technologies showed one-third of healthcare professionals store patient data on portable and mobile devices, including USB drives, laptops and mobile phones. But only 39 percent of healthcare organizations report encrypting the data on these devices – devices that can easily end up in the wrong hands.
- In fact, another recent report found that 12,500 mobile devices were left in taxis, and 4,500 USB memory sticks were left in pants pockets sent to dry cleaners during a six-month period last year.
- In the medical field, people have fraudulently received $100,000 procedures based on stolen identities. One study says 10 cents of every healthcare dollar pays for fraudulent activities.
- Numerous studies indicate that telemedicine very effectively reduces costs and offers benefits for patients and healthcare providers.
The use of encryption and authentication technologies gives the healthcare industry a safe, efficient way to connect people, providers and payers with critical information, offering an avenue to effectively meet customers' needs while reducing the likelihood of costly errors.
Diversinet sees mobile phones as the logical vehicle for providing this service. The number of mobile phone subscriptions worldwide has reached 4.6 billion. Further, the arrival of iPhones and similar products has led consumers to expect more real-time information at their fingertips.
About Diversinet
Diversinet Corp. (TSX Venture: DIV, OTCBB: DVNTF) provides the healthcare industry with applications that securely connect people with their healthcare information, providers and payers – anyway, anytime and anywhere. Diversinet's reliable, end-to-end MobiSecure platform offers global, secure and cost-effective applications to meet rapidly growing needs for mobile personal health records. Connect with Diversinet Corp. at www.diversinet.com. Healthcare. Connected and Protected.
Editor's Note: Diversinet will be available for briefings and product demonstrations in Booth # 7028 in the Wireless Health Pavilion at CTIA. Jay Couse, senior vice president, will participate in a panel discussion with "The Wireless Healthcare Leaders" on March 24 from 11 to 12:30 p.m. PDT in Room N262. A Diversinet healthcare solution will also be demonstrated in the semifinal round for the AT&T Open Call-Apps competition for the Android category on March 23 at 2:28 p.m. PDT in Room N213.
The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and Canadian securities laws provide a "safe harbour" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this press release (as well as information included in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by the company) contains statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to the success of current product offerings. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties, including the uncertainty of the outcome of the proceedings initiated by AllOne, that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future and, accordingly, such results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the company. For a description of additional risks and uncertainties, please refer to the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available at www.sec.gov and Canadian securities regulatory authorities available at www.sedar.com.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
MobiSecure is a registered trademark of Diversinet Corp. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE Diversinet Corp.
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