The Medical Transcription Service Consortium (MTSC) said that it has selected Verizon Business to build a new IT platform for the secure exchange of digitized transcriptions of physician-dictated patient notes.

MTSC is a newly formed industry group, and Verizon Business (News - Alert) is one of the founding members. The group aims to focus on developing a common framework for the digitization of transcribed dictated records, including interoperability standards for the seamless and secure exchange of data among health care providers.

In a release, company officials said that the new IT platform -- expected to be available later this year -- is a key part of the initiative. It’ll leverage Verizon Business’ broad portfolio of advanced IT, hosting and security solutions, and also the company’s global IP network.

MTSC will determine the specifications and according to that the platform will be designed. The specifications will include the use of security best practices. Company officials said that this will enable the objective testing and certification for privacy, security and interoperability.

“The vital services provided by the members of the MTSC are the foundation of every patient medical record, and Verizon Business' development of a common IT platform built to the standards and policies adopted by the consortium members will play an important role in expanding the adoption of electronic health records,” said Rajeev Kapoor, global managing director for health care at Verizon, in the release.

Jay Cannon, president and chief operating officer at Webmedx, said that the creation of the MTSC and the work that Verizon is doing to create a common and interoperable network for the exchange of information will help drive efficiency and data security for the medical transcription industry.

The creation of MTSC was spearheaded by the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) and ICSA Labs, an independent division of Verizon Business. The other charter members of the consortium are medical transcription companies such as MD-IT, MedQuist, MxSecure, Sten-Tel and Webmedx.

The Verizon Connected Healthcare Solutions practice group provides wireless and wired solutions to help transform the delivery of patient care, better manage costs, enhance access to services, and maintain data privacy.

The Verizon IT services portfolio includes a broad array of security, hosting, storage collaboration, networking, and managed and professional services. In addition, it also offers customized applications.