At the HIMSS17 conference in Orlando on Monday, The National Association for Trusted Exchange (NATE) unveiled NATE’s Blue Button Directory (NBBD) and is demonstrating it as part of the Federal Health Architecture’s demonstrations in the HIMSS17 Interoperability Showcase.
The Blue Button Directory is a FHIR-based solution and a prototype developed by NATE to enable data sharing between providers and consumers.
“NATE’s Blue Button Directory solves a significant real-world problem,” Aaron Seib, NATE CEO. “One lesson we’ve learned is that merely having the technical capability available is insufficient. From a technical perspective, provider-facing Direct secure messaging accounts created in compliance with HIPAA and designed to support exchange between providers can readily be configured to enable exchange with consumer-facing Direct accounts created in compliance with applicable laws and regulations as enforced by the FTC. The disconnect hasn’t so much been about how to do it technically, it’s been more about how to make it easy for provider organizations to use Direct to communicate with patients in a way that fits with their existing workflow and business processes. That’s what the NBBD is designed to do.”
According to NATE, a lack of facile interoperability between a provider and a consumer can be a real detriment to both the provider’s experience and the consumer’s, and can inadvertently cause regulatory issues for staff. The NBBD prototype allows patients to discover online how best to submit their request for health information and establishes a secure end-point for the HIPAA-covered entity’s staff responsible for managing health information requests. At the Interoperability Showcase, NATE is demonstrating how organizations can register the appropriate staff (e.g. medical records department) in a FHIR-based directory, and see how the provisioning of a Direct address enables bi-directional exchange with the consumer-controlled apps participating in the NATE Blue Button for Consumers (NBB4C) Trust Bundle. NATE’s demonstration will include solutions for providers that do not yet possess certified EHR technology.
NATE’s partners in the NATE Blue Button Directory/FHIR demonstration include DataMotion, NewWave Telecom & Technologies, Epic, Cerner, Kno2, Humetrix, 360ofme and Medyear.
The National Association for Trusted Exchange currently is seeking partners to bring the NATE Blue Button Directory prototype into full production.
