Zix Corporation Selected by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas for Secure e-Messaging and Content Management before April HIPAA Deadline
ZixCorp will provide policy-driven content filtering and email encryption capability for staff, members and affiliates – protecting sensitive information sent via email
DALLAS – March 25, 2003 – Zix Corporation (ZixCorpâ„?), (Nasdaq: ZIXI), a global provider of secure e-messaging management and protection services, today announced that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and largest health insurer in the state of Kansas, has selected ZixCorp’s entire suite of secure e-messaging and content management services for 1000 users enterprise-wide to help comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) guidelines by the April 14 deadline.
BCBSKS will use the following services offered by ZixCorp for its secure e-messaging and content management needs: ZixVPMâ„? (Zix Virtual Private Messengerâ„?), a company-wide gateway solution that provides policy-driven secure email for both inbound and outbound communications; ZixPortâ„?, an integrated secure e-messaging portal that mirrors the look and feel of BCBSKS’ existing Web site; ZixMailâ„?, a desktop-level encryption service that will be distributed to internal employees regularly handling sensitive information; and ZixAuditorâ„?, an assessment service that will identify and monitor compliance activity and keep company policies up to date with traffic patterns.
Brian Carver, corporate information security officer of BCBSKS, says that in addition to having the ability to implement a solution prior to the HIPAA deadline, ZixCorp’s affiliation with HealthyEmailâ„?, a nonprofit organization created to maximize the potential of email use in the healthcare industry, helped the insurer decide to select ZixCorp over the competition. “We feel comfortable with this decision, knowing that ZixCorp is a leader in the industry. The healthcare industry is beginning to recognize the need for a reliable and secure email service that enables seamless communications with outside partners -without the associated complexity and unnecessary cost – in order to safeguard highly sensitive patient information. As a leader in Kansas, we are hoping to highlight the need for protecting this information and for the industry to embrace secure email as a more efficient business practice. We are glad to find ZixCorp in the forefront of this movement.”
ZixCorp has agreed to provide free two-year ZixMail licenses to every physician in the United States to support the HealthyEmail initiative to raise awareness of secure email usage in the healthcare industry. Organizations like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas can implement in-house policies and encryption standards using ZixVPM while having the benefit of completely secure two-way communication with physicians outside its organization.
“We are very pleased to help Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas lead the healthcare industry in the use of secure email by providing our ZixVPM solution,” says Daniel S. Nutkis, vice president of strategy and products at ZixCorp. “In addition to the interoperability and send-to-anyone capabilities provided by our services, healthcare companies appreciate the flexibility of ZixVPM. This service enables organizations to set company-specific policies for encryption, while fully utilizing ZixCorp’s standard HIPAA lexicon – a set of terms used to determine what messages need encryption to meet prudent standard-of-care guidelines and the privacy regulations of HIPAA.”
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas has become the largest health insurance company in the state, covering 103 out of the 105 counties in Kansas. Today, 61 years after its founding, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas serves more than 650,000 Kansans and continues to lead the way in health insurance in the state. The corporation takes pride in its history of service to the state and looks forward to continuing its tradition of employing Kansans, serving Kansans and supporting Kansas communities.
About Zix Corporation
Zix Corporation (ZixCorpâ„?) is a global provider of e-messaging management and protection services. ZixCorp offers a portfolio of managed on-site and hosted e-messaging solutions to protect organizations from viruses, spam, and electronic attack, while delivering the ability to enforce corporate policies and securely send to anyone. ZixCorp’s advisory services and secure e-messaging solutions enable organizations of any size to streamline operations, avoid obsolescence, mitigate risks, and leverage the cost and time efficiencies of e-messaging. For more information, visit www.zixcorp.com.