DirectTrust today announced continued steady growth in the number of Direct exchange users, addresses and transactions. The organization also announced the addition of six new members since the beginning of the year. DirectTrust is a health care industry alliance created by and for participants in the Direct exchange network used for secure, interoperable exchange of personal health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.
According to end of first quarter 2017 metrics, the number of health care organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in Direct exchange increased 63% to nearly 95,000, compared with the same time last year. The number of trusted Direct addresses able to share PHI grew 21% to 1.4 million. There were 35.6 million Direct exchange transactions in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 76% over the same period last year. DirectTrust anticipates transactions totaling 140 million by the end of 2017. Direct’s nationwide network includes 40 EHNAC-DirectTrust accredited HISPs.
“DirectTrust’s network for secure, interoperable exchange of health information continues to grow, even as meaningful use programs near the end of their course,” said DirectTrust President and CEO David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA. “We believe health care providers and their organizations are beginning to learn how to optimize secure data transport via Direct by combining it with more reliable and useful content, and with better workflows for care coordination. Whether used for peer-to-peer messaging, for transport of lab results, to send data to clinical repositories, or to combine clinical file attachments with billing statements, Direct interoperability is replacing fax and mail because it is more secure, less costly, and can be tracked much more easily within EHRs and other applications.”
Since January 1, six healthcare organizations have joined DirectTrust. They are:
1. Sutter Health — a not-for-profit health system serving Northern California
2. Health Record Banking Alliance — a non-profit organization promoting consumer-centered, consumer-controlled, comprehensive, lifetime electronic health records
3. Timmaron Group — provider of innovative global growth strategies employing applied technologies
4. Moxe Health — provider of digital tools to facilitate the flow of data between healthcare providers, insurers and software applications
5. Uticorp, Inc. — a medical utilization review company providing independent health insurance company audits
6. Anne Arundel Medical Center — a regional health system headquartered in Annapolis, MD
These additions bring DirectTrust’s total membership to 124 organizations.
“We’re happy to see a diverse group of innovative applications and IT companies, along with large and prestigious provider organizations, as new members in DirectTrust. Physicians are taking a much more active role in deciding how their organizations and their patients use interoperable health information exchange, and that’s a very positive development to note,” said Dr. Kibbe.
Charts detailing results as of the end of the first quarter are available here or by contacting Ed Emerman at eemerman@eaglepr.com or 609.275.5162.
About DirectTrust
DirectTrust is a five-year old, non-profit, vendor neutral, self-regulatory entity initially created by and for participants in the Direct community, including Health Internet Service Providers (HISPs), Certificate Authorities (CAs), Registration Authorities (RAs), doctors, patients and vendors, and supports both provider-to-provider as well as patient-to-provider Direct exchange. In the period 2013 to 2015, DirectTrust was the recipient of a Cooperative Agreement Award from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) as part of the Exemplar HIE Governance Program. DirectTrust serves as a forum and governance body for persons and entities engaged in the Direct exchange of electronic health information as part of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). DirectTrust’s Security and Trust Framework is the basis for the voluntary accreditation of service providers implementing Direct health information exchange. The goal of DirectTrust is to develop, promote, and, as necessary, help enforce the rules and best practices necessary to maintain security and trust within the Direct community, consistent with the HITECH Act and the governance rules for the NwHIN established by ONC. DirectTrust is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the interoperable exchange of health information. To learn more, visit www.directtrust.org.
