WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Jul 13, 2016) - DirectTrust today announced that the number of Direct exchange users, addresses and transactions continues to grow steadily. The organization also announced the addition of two new members who joined the alliance in June. 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 second quarter 2016 metrics, the number of health care organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in Direct exchange increased 40% to more than 59,000, compared with the same time last year.

The number of trusted Direct addresses able to share PHI grew 49% to nearly 1.3 million at the end of Q2 2016. There were nearly 24 million Direct exchange transactions in Q2 2016, an increase of nearly 79% over the same period a year ago. Direct's nationwide network now includes 44 EHNAC-DirectTrust accredited HISPs.

"The data demonstrate that Direct messaging continues to replace fax and mail transactions for secure, interoperable electronic transport of personal health information," commented David C. Kibbe, MD MBA, President and CEO of the non-profit trade group. "The network is demonstrating its reliability and cost-effectiveness for moving data of many types -- including structured CCDAs, PDF, Word, and image files -- across the boundaries of organizations and health IT systems' from different vendors."

In the second quarter of 2016, two healthcare organizations have joined DirectTrust. They are:

1. DarkMatter, a full-service international cybersecurity company based in the United Arab Emirates and Canada, provides secure trusted and integrated protection services.

2. Anthem, Inc., a U.S. health insurance company, is the largest for-profit managed health care company in the country, and is the parent organization for 36 Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association organizations and companies in 14 states.

These additions bring DirectTrust's total membership to 142 organizations.

"We're very proud to welcome these companies into the DirectTrust community as both providers and users of Direct exchange services. They represent the diversity of our membership and show the extent to which Direct secure messaging is expanding both internationally and within the U.S. healthcare system," Dr. Kibbe concluded.

Charts detailing second quarter results are available here or by contacting Robin Schoen at rschoen@robinschoenpr.com or 215.504.2122.

About DirectTrust
 DirectTrust is a three-year old, non-profit, competitively neutral, self-regulatory entity created by and for participants in the Direct community, including Health Internet Service Providers (HISPs), Certificate Authorities (CAs), and Registration Authorities (RAs), doctors, patients and vendors, and supports both provider-to-provider as well as patient-to-provider Direct exchange. DirectTrust recently received a Cooperative Agreement Award from ONC as part of the Exemplar HIE Governance Program. DirectTrust serves as a forum and governance body for persons and entities engaged in Directed 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 Directed health information exchange. The goal of DirectTrust.org 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.org is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the Direct exchange of health information. To learn more, visit www.directtrust.org.