DirectTrust announced that the number of Direct exchange users, addresses and transactions continues to grow steadily. The organization also announced the addition of three members who joined the alliance during the third quarter. DirectTrust is a non-profit health care industry alliance created to advance the sharing of personal health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care. DirectTrust provides and sustains the technical, policy, and governance infrastructure necessary to assure privacy, security, and trust in identity across a national network of networks delivering secure, interoperable health information exchange services.
According to end of third quarter 2016 metrics, the number of health care organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in Direct exchange increased nearly 62% to more than 69,000, compared with the same time last year. The number of trusted Direct addresses enabled to share PHI grew 37% to more than 1.3 million at the end of the third quarter. There were nearly 22 million Direct exchange transactions in the third quarter, an increase of more than 64% over the same period a year ago. 40 HISPs accredited by DirectTrust’s accreditation program administered by EHNAC. More than 300 EHR vendors’ and their customers participate in the network.
“We’ve entered a new phase of growth for Direct exchange; one in which Meaningful Use (MU) is no longer the single major driver of adoption. New and often innovative use-cases are springing up in which Direct replaces fax, phone, and/or mail in the workflows of healthcare-related organizations whose professionals don’t necessarily use EHRs and don’t directly benefit from the MU incentive bonuses,” commented David C. Kibbe, MD MBA, President and CEO of the non-profit trade group. “Examples include automated clinical summaries going to and from emergency departments and medical practices; automated routing of data from hospitals’ and practices’ IT systems to public health surveillance and quality registries; and administrative data exchanges linked to revenue cycle management, among others. Non-MU participating healthcare organizations such as long-term care and post-acute care facilities, home health agencies, departments of health, and quality and/or specialty registries are gaining access to the DirectTrust network because they want to reach the providers already accessible there. I look for this trend to accelerate as the tools for interoperable exchange become more familiar across the industry.”
During the third quarter, three healthcare organizations joined DirectTrust. They are:
- SSL.com – A leading certificate authority trusted around the world, SSL.com provides a wide range of digital certificates to businesses of all sizes.
- HealthlinkNY – A Qualified Entity (QE), funded by the New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH), HealthlinkNY operates a health information exchange (HIE) and population health improvement programs (PHIP), supports healthcare delivery reform (DSRIP), and fosters collaboration among public and private health plans (CPC) for a 13 county region.
- LifeWIRE – A provider of a patented, secure, cloud-based communications engine that automates a continuous, two-way dialogue between service providers and their customers.
“DirectTrust’s diverse alliance offers in-depth technical and market expertise for more than secure e-mail transport. Our members are building a platform for interoperability capable of supporting multiple technologies and combinations of technologies that can improve care and reduce costs. Sharing ideas and collaboration is a large part of what we do, and enhances the value of membership in DirectTrust because it brings to the table for discussion such critical areas as identity management, public key infrastructures, and new use-cases for patient-to-provider communications that integrate Direct exchange with secure chat and texting. Our newest members clearly represent this broader vision of interoperable exchange and are contributing their expertise to the federation in significant ways through participation in our Workgroups. We welcome them and know they will enjoy and benefit from the experience,” Dr. Kibbe concluded.
Charts detailing third quarter results are available here.
