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Governor Perry Appoints Bluegate CEO Manfred Sternberg to Southern Governors Association Gulf Coast Health Information Technology Task Force

Posted on: Thursday, 28 September 2006, 09:02 CDT

Bluegate Corp. (OTCBB:BGAT), the nation's premier provider of outsourced health care IT solutions, professional technology consulting services and the Bluegate Medical Grade Network™, announced that CEO Manfred Sternberg has been appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry to the Southern Governors Association (SGA) Gulf Coast Health Information Technology Task Force.

Comprised of experts from Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama, and national experts in developing, implementing and/or applying health information technology, the task force is charged with developing a plan for adopting a digitally based health information system in the Gulf Coast region. The task force will identify and explore solutions to technical, political and attitudinal obstacles to the development of state-based health information systems that ensures regional interoperability while maintaining the privacy and security of patient information.

Hurricane Katrina exposed US health care system vulnerabilities and clearly defined the urgency for an interoperable digital network to replace a largely paper-based medical records system.

The recent announcement by the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services regarding the Stark Law Rule Change and the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of HR 4157 "The Health IT Promotion Act of 2006," both aimed at removing legal barriers so hospitals and certain other organizations can provide information technology and support services to physicians, marks a critical step in laying the foundation for health care interoperability and aids the Bush administration's goal of nationwide adoption of electronic health records (EHR) by 2014.

"Building acceptance and widespread adoption of EHR, patient management and other digital systems among health care facilities, and more importantly, the independent physician practices that provide the majority of patient care, is critical to creating health care interoperability that can improve patient care and reduce costs," stated Mr. Sternberg. "I'm honored to have been selected by Gov. Perry to serve on the Task Force and am looking forward to helping define a solution that will enhance patient care in times of normalcy, as well as catastrophe."

A native of New Orleans, Mr. Sternberg is a member of the State of Texas Health IT Advisory Committee and is involved in multiple efforts to create Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO) in Texas and around the country. He also is a licensed attorney in Louisiana and Texas.

About Bluegate

Bluegate Corp. is an industry leader of outsourced health care IT solutions, the Medical Grade Network™ and remote management services. It provides IT consulting through its professional services division and HIPAA-compliant, turnkey managed security services and interoperability solutions across its Medical Grade Network™ to hospitals, physicians, other health care facilities, RHIOs, HCOs and third-party solution providers. Bluegate is publicly traded on the over the counter bulletin board under the ticker symbol BGAT. For information, visit www.bluegate.com or call 713-686-1100.

Safe Harbor

This press release may contain "forward-looking statements." All statements, other than statements of fact, included in this release and without limitation statements regarding potential future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Source: Business Wire

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