66% Of Health Information Exchange Organizations Use Direct Messaging

A survey of health information organizations (HIO) in 27 states found that about 66% use Direct secure messaging technology as their primary method for exchanging patient health data with other provider organizations. Direct is a technology that uses a national encryption standard to allow the secure e-mail exchange of clinical data in attachments. The top five reported uses of Direct are for transitions of care summaries, admission discharge or transfer notifications, patient communications, secure email for other purposes, and physician-to-physician consultation requests. The top three benefits of using Direct included improved speed of information access, less handling . . .