DirectTrust, the Washington, D.C.-based non-profit that supports the exchange of personal health information (PHI) between provider organizations and between provider and patients, has reported continued, steady growth in the number of Direct exchange users, addresses and transactions during the first quarter of 2017.
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 percent to nearly 95,000, compared with the same time last year.
The number of trusted Direct addresses able to share PHI grew 21 percent to 1.4 million. There were 35.6 million Direct exchange transactions in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 76 percent over the same period last year. DirectTrust anticipates transactions totaling 140 million by the end of 2017. As of the first quarter of 2017, the organization reports that the number of send and receive Direct transactions to and from trusted endpoints totaled 201 million. 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," DirectTrust president and CEO David C. Kibbe, M.D., said in a statement. “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. The additions bring DirectTrust's total membership to 124 organizations.
The six new members are: Sutter Health, a health system serving Northern California; Health Record Banking Alliance, an organization promoting consumer-centered, consumer-controlled, comprehensive, lifetime electronic health records; Timmaron Group, a provider of innovative global growth strategies employing applied technologies; Moxe Health, a provider of digital tools to facilitate the flow of data between healthcare providers, insurers and software applications; Uticorp, Inc., a medical utilization review company providing independent health insurance company audits and Anne Arundel Medical Center, a regional health system headquartered in Annapolis, M.D.
