HIPAA Driving A New Generation of Cash Management Service

MessageContact: Scott Watson
615-794-2009
scottw@mbproject.org

New Orleans, LA (April 20, 2004) - The Medical Banking Project will review
HIPAA's impact on banks during the "Reliable Infrastructures for eHealth"
workshop on April 28th in New Orleans, LA. An industry map showing why HIPAA
is driving new levels of interoperability between banks and healthcare
clients, and how this has launched a new generation of cash management
services, will be presented. The link between banks and the development of
eHealth infrastructures will be a focal point of the presentation.

The workshop will examine the role of ebXML in healthcare infrastructure and
besides MBProject, will feature representatives from the US National
Institute of Health, HL7, The Mayo Clinic and the US National Centre for
Disease Control. It is sponsored by OASIS, an international standards
organization, and CommerceNet.

MBProject will review significant market drivers related to how banks are
using their payment expertise for medical client acquisition and retention.
New cash management solutions have a payment and data component, and have
the potential to accelerate the adoption of national healthcare information
infrastructures (NHII), as envisioned by the federal government. Benefits
for medical providers and health plans will be highlighted, as well as an
overview of the recent surge by financial institutions to implement Health
Savings Account strategies, and how this dynamic could impact NHII adoption.

An eHealth chart plotting stakeholders and interoperability issues will
provide instruction to the participants. Lessons taken from eHealth
economies in other countries will be reviewed as we mutually explore
solutions for using technology to reduce rising healthcare costs. For more
information, please go to http://healthcare.xml.org/ .

Other News:

--   A summary production of Stop 3 of the Great American Interoperability
Tour is now available at http://www.mbproject.org . Stop 4 is scheduled for
Internet broadcasting in June.

--   MBProject will issue a letter to the President's Information
Infrastructure Technical Advisory Committee on ways in which to leverage
banking infrastructure to support the emerging national healthcare
information infrastructure. The letter will be co-sponsored by OASIS and
others following the workshop in New Orleans.

--   MBProject has been asked to put together expert panels for the 9th
National HIPAA Summit conference. We will focus on how banks are getting
involved with HSAs and continue to explore emerging new medical banking
models. Please check our site periodically for further information at
http://www.mbproject.org .

--   MBProject has completed Phase 1 of our national demonstration project
using the "Charitable Communities Network" operating model. More information
will be made available on our website in July. A full launch is being
planned for February, 2005 at the Medical Banking Institute in Nashville,
TN.

About the Medical Banking Project...
MBProject is an independent policy research and strategic advisory firm
established to promote the development of "Charitable Communities Network",
an industry model that leverages HIPAA's security, privacy and electronic
mandates to deliver substantive cost benefits to care givers. The firm does
not provide legal advice and urges medical banking stakeholders to consult
with private counsel. For more information, please go to www.mbproject.org.