WASHINGTON, July 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DirectTrust today announced continued steady growth in the number of Direct exchange users, addresses, and transactions. The organization also announced the addition of two members during the second quarter. DirectTrust is a non-profit health care industry alliance created to support secure, identity-verified electronic exchanges of protected health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.
According to end of second quarter 2018 metrics:
- The number of health care organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in Direct exchange increased nearly 23% to more than 121,000, compared with the same time last year.
- The number of trusted Direct addresses able to share PHI grew nearly 19% to more than 1.7 million.
- The number of patients/consumers involved using Direct increased 52% to more than 242,000.
- There were 50.5 million Direct exchange transactions in the second quarter of 2018, an increase of 26% over the same period last year. The cumulative total of Direct exchange transactions climbed to nearly 432 million at the end of the second quarter.
- DirectTrust’s nationwide network now includes 35 HISPs in the Accredited Trust Anchor Bundle, 5 HISPs in the Governmental Trust Anchor Bundle, and 43 Accredited Organizations (HISPs/CAs/RAs).
“The adoption of Direct interoperability continues to grow as an alternative to fax and single-channel electronic transport of health information because of Direct's comparative cost savings, its integration with certified EHR technology used by providers, and its high level of security and identity controls,” said David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA, President and CEO of DirectTrust. “Providers still face challenges, primarily those of implementation and workflow, and of standardizing features and functions to make EHRs easier to use and more interoperable. Patients face a different challenge: the need for providers to be more open to patients accessing and moving their health data via Direct messaging. We are, however, seeing progress.”
Two healthcare organizations joined DirectTrust during the second quarter:
FIGmd Inc. - FIGmd Inc. provides clinical data registry, analytics and data reporting solutions to medical practices, specialty societies, medical professional associations, hospitals, health systems, and others.
Haven Health Solutions - Haven Health Solutions is a blockchain services provider that enables organizations to build and deploy new and innovative applications engrained with security and set standards offering speed and data integrity.
These additions bring DirectTrust’s total membership to 117 organizations.
“Direct continues to show growth in key adoption metrics. The increase in the number of organizations and individuals with DirectTrust addresses is evidence that healthcare professionals and consumers recognize and appreciate the value of the data liquidity and trusted identities. The DirectTrust network supports interoperability and provides security and identity assurance everyone can trust. It’s the missing link for today’s API strategies. That’s the unique benefit DirectTrust brings to the table,” said Bruce Schreiber, DirectTrust Board Chairman and MaxMD Chief Technology Officer.
Charts detailing results as of the end of the second quarter are available HERE or by contacting Ed Emerman at eemerman@eaglepr.com or 609.275.5162.
About DirectTrust
DirectTrust is a six -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.
Contact:
Ed Emerman
Eagle Public Relations
609.275.5162
eemerman@eaglepr.com