The Direct Project was created to allow medical providers to exchange important information without ever having to press print or send a fax. The project is championed by the U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Essentially, a provider signs up for a Direct e-mail address and a security certificate. From that address to other secure Direct addresses, the provider can send messages containing secure EMR information. Direct messages also meet HIPAA privacy requirements.
To meet Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements for electronic medical records (EMR), medical providers have to have the capability to exchange health information by electronic means with providers outside of their organizations. Direct provides a simple solution for meeting the Stage 1 standards.
Last fall, health information service provider DataMotion launched DataMotion Direct, which is a multi-platform solution for securely transmitting protected health information. Providers can carry out Direct practice-to-practice or patient-to-practice messaging on both desktop and mobile devices.
Recently, the company joined hands with DirectTrust, a not-for-profit trade association created for providers in the Direct secure messaging community.
One major obstacle to providers using Direct messaging is that large files, like imaging files, were difficult to deliver over e-mail. With DataMotion Direct, providers can deliver documents and images up to two GB in size. Supported data includes summary of care documents, large images, personal messages, in-network communications and out-of-network communications.
Where Direct messaging helps providers meet Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements, DataMotion Direct targets Stage 2 by enabling providers to exchange documents and images with external health information networks and other vendors' systems.
Providers must meet Stage 1 Meaningful Use requirements for at least 90 days in the first calendar year that they implement their EMR solutions and the full calendar year during their second year of Meaningful Use. Stage 2 criteria become active in 2014.
To receive incentive payments from Medicare and Medicaid, providers must have current meaningful use standards in place.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein
