Recently, as part of their Cooperative Agreement programs with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, many states and territories are preparing to implement DIRECT Secure Messaging (Direct). DIRECT applies existing secure e-mail standards to enable healthcare providers (physicians, laboratories, hospitals, long term care and skilled nursing facilities, etc.) to share a patient’s medical history including lab results, discharge summaries and other important information as attachments and secure health specific e-mail. Today these exchanges are paper-based and sent inefficiently via mail and fax.
Healthcare today requires the ability to push data from where it is to where it is needed and shared with other providers involved in caring for any patient—even if those providers are not part of the same practice or health system. Direct Messaging will make the information sharing process faster, less expensive, and far more secure than paper-based record management. This critical part of the national health IT agenda will enable health information to follow the consumer, be available for clinical decision making, and support appropriate use of healthcare information beyond direct patient care so as to improve public health.
As technical manager for DIRECT Secure Messaging for the Wisconsin Statewide Health Information Network, we see a time, and not far off, when healthcare providers will be able to fulfill the true promise of health information exchange – more effective health care, patient safety and better outcomes.