The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Indian Health Service (IHS) have become the first federal agencies to become Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) Accredited DirectTrust Health Information Services Providers (HISPs). This accreditation enables the VA and IHS to exchange messages directly and securely with other EHNAC Accredited DirectTrust HISPs in what is known as the DirectTrust Accredited Trust Bundle.

The VA and IHS join iShare Medical℠ as one of only 40 EHNAC Accredited DirectTrust HISPs that are helping to power interoperability in the United States healthcare system.

DirectTrust

DirectTrust is a collaborative, non-profit organization that supports the Direct Protocol, a communications standard that is required by Stage 2 Meaningful Use and is used to exchange medical records over a nationwide network. The DirectTrust network includes over 40,000 health care entities, 50 Health Information Exchanges and 760,000 Direct Addresses.

ENHAC Accreditation

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is an independent, federally recognized standards development and accrediting organization that audits and certifies compliance with HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification rules and Direct Protocol. As a part of the accreditation process HISPs must prove interoperability; the ability to exchange medical records with other HISPs in the Accredited DirectTrust Bundle.

HISPs provide services to anyone having a HIPAA compliant right to access medical records such as physicians, hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and post-acute care, patients, insurers, state departments of health, and emergency responders. Think of a HISP as a clearing house for medical records that allows for the secure exchange of medical records over an encrypted HIPAA Compliant network.

In order to get set up to exchange medical records the sender and the receiver of medical records must be trusted. This means:

• The sender and receiver must be ID Proofed to verify their identity
• Once verified a certificate is created. This certificate is usually valid for one year. The certificate has two pieces, a private key and a public key. The public key is attached to a “Direct Address” that looks like an email address. The Direct Address is given to exchange partners. The private key is used to unencrypt the message. Only the owner of the Direct Address who has the private key can open the encrypted message.

To obtain your Direct Address including a certificate that is valid for one year, contact iShare Medical℠ at (816) 249-2555 ext. 1 or click here: iShare Medical℠ Messaging

Once set up, your unique Direct Address can be used to send and receive Direct Messages over the DirectTrust Network of over 40,000 health care entities, 50 Health Information Exchanges and 760,000 Direct Addresses.

Each time a message is sent, the HISP authenticates the sender and receiver of the data, validates the certificate, encrypts the message, and securely sends the message to the recipient where it is encrypted by the recipient’s secret private key.

Messages cannot be opened by anyone else except the recipient to whom the message is addressed.

Direct Messages can go seamlessly behind the scenes from one EHR to another or some HISPs like iShare Medical℠ provide software that allows messages to be sent and read by individuals who have no EHR software. iShare Medical’s software is called iShare Medical℠ Messaging and it allows individual or organization to view, download and transmit messages using internet connected and enabled devices such as an iPhone, iPad, Laptop, Android, Tablet and Desktop Computer.

Using an EHNAC Accredited DirectTrust HISP can help improve care coordination by making it safer and more timely for healthcare providers to share health information in a secure Direct message instead of by fax, hand delivery or mail. Timely exchange of health information is expected to reduce costs through reducing duplication of services. Interoperabiltiy is about getting the right information on the right patient to the right provider at the right time, every time so it can be used to improve care and outcomes, reduce cost, and ultimately save lives.

Having the VA and IHS as part of the DirectTrust Accredited Trust Bundle is a critical step in expanding the nationwide health information network. DirectTrust President and CEO David Kibbe, MD, MBA stated that “Given the explosive growth in EHNAC-DirectTrust Accredited members and substantial benefits of electronic health information exchange via Direct, we anticipate that the Department of Defense, Medicare/CMS, and other state and federal agencies will shortly follow the path of the VA and Indian Health Services”.

iShare Medical℠ congratulates the VA and IHS and we look forward to the possibility of other Federal Agencies also joining the EHNAC Accredited DirectTrust Bundle.

Linda Van Horn, MBA | Friday, October 16, 2015