Direct Messaging for Hospitals
Direct messaging, often called “Direct” for short, is a simplistic form of health information exchange (HIE) that allows a health care provider to securely send (or receive) patient information to another specified health care provider. Information is sent over the Internet in an encrypted, secure way and is commonly compared to sending or receiving a secure email.
Direct messaging is enabled by Health Information Service Provider (HISPs), that are contracted to manage security and transport for Directed exchange. HISPs can also offer a provider directory, which providers can query to locate Direct addresses of other providers.
Many EHR vendors also provide HISP services and integrate those with their EHR product, or have partnered with a particular HISP provider to deliver this functionality. Some EHR vendors have taken a "HISP agnostic" approach and require their customers to choose a HISP.
If you need to enable Direct messaging at your organization, please contact your EHR vendor first to learn about your options.
CORHIO's HISP Services
We offer Health Information Service Provider (HISP) services via the Medicity technology platform. HISP service allows Direct messages to be securely transported from one provider to another provider. We have the capability to integrate our HISP services with most EHRs if you need this service.
Medicity is a member of DirectTrust, a national nonprofit association that has established an industry accepted security and trust framework for the exchange of Direct messages. Through Medicity, CORHIO is part of the Trust Bundle. This allows providers using the CORHIO HISP to exchange messages with other providers using a different HISP within the Trust Bundle. View list of HISPs accredited with DirectTrust here.
In addition to DirectTrust connectivity, we have point-to-point HISP connections with Surescripts, Cerner, Quality Health Network (western Colorado), New Mexico Health Information Collaborative, and the Kansas Health Information Network.
Sending Direct Messages to Providers Outside Your Hospital or System
In Colorado, we have set up hundreds of physician offices, long-term care, and other providers with Direct message addresses and accounts. For current hospital participants, we can send you our complete list of providers with Direct addresses in our HISP – please contact us for this. Additionally, we may be able to partner with you to outreach to key provider offices that do not yet have Direct messaging and help them get set up with an account. For providers without an EHR, we can provide them with a Web-based tool called Web Direct for sending and receiving Direct messages. Please contact us for information about this and be aware that outreach efforts can take six months or more.