DirectTrust Reports Steady Growth in Number of Direct Exchange Users, Addresses and Transactions during Third Quarter

WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 24, 2017 -- DirectTrust today announced continued steady growth in the number of Direct exchange users, addresses and transactions. The organization also announced the addition of two new members during the third quarter. DirectTrust is a health care industry alliance created by and for participants in the DirectTrust exchange network used for secure, interoperable and standards-based exchange of personal health information (PHI). Initially established for support of clinical care coordination exchanges, use cases for the DirectTrust network have recently expanded to support administrative exchange, quality measurement and data collection, patient engagement, and many other use cases where fax traditionally has been used.

According to end of third quarter 2017 metrics, the number of health care organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in DirectTrust exchange increased 54% to more than 106,000, compared with the same period last year. The number of trusted DirectTrust addresses able to share PHI grew 20% to nearly 1.6 million.

There were more than 46 million DirectTrust network transactions during the third quarter, an increase of 114% over the same period last year. The cumulative total of 2017 transactions is expected to reach 170 million.  DirectTrust’s nationwide network now includes 43 EHNAC-DirectTrust accredited HISPs, 38 Accredited Trust Anchor Bundle HISPs and four Governmental Trust Anchor Bundle HISPs.

“We’re starting to see Direct exchange selected to automate server-to-server connections and replace VPNs and single channel HL7 feeds,” said DirectTrust President and CEO David C. Kibbe, MD MBA. “Direct has the benefit of being a secure one-to-many—not just one-to-one—platform for transport. Exploiting that benefit can save hospitals, health care systems, population management databases and others significant costs. One-to-one interfaces are expensive to implement and maintain. And once one is built, it’s just a single channel between two parties. Direct, on the other hand, provides a scalable network of interfaces able to reach virtually every EHR in the country. Direct is not just secure email: it’s a multi-use interoperability platform.”

Since July 1, two healthcare organizations have joined DirectTrust. They are:

• Brokers Broker LLC
• Janie Appleseed

DirectTrust’s total membership is 121 organizations.

Charts detailing results as of the end of the first quarter are available HERE or by contacting Ed Emerman at [email protected] or 609.275.5162.

About DirectTrust
DirectTrust is a five-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
[email protected]