DirectTrust Welcomes Amended Health Information Exchange Report from Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General

WASHINGTON, Dec. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DirectTrust™ today welcomed an updated “Improving VA and Select
Community Care Health Information Exchanges” (REPORT # 20-01129-220) report on the Veterans Health Administration health information exchange program from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA OIG). DirectTrust is a non-profit healthcare industry alliance created to support secure, identity-verified electronic exchanges of protected health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between providers and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.

The report—“Improving VA and Select Community Care Health Information Exchanges” (REPORT # 20-01129-220)—issued November 10, 2020, contains updates with explanatory footnotes on pages ii, 3, and 7.

“The VA OIG report provides valuable insight and recommendations on how to enhance the Veterans Health Information Exchange program. We’re heartened to see the changes in the amended report, which, among other changes, clarifies that membership in DirectTrust is not required to utilize the Direct Standard™ and Direct Secure Messaging,” stated Scott Stuewe, DirectTrust President and CEO. “We look forward to our continued partnership with the VA, including leveraging broadly deployed Direct Secure Messaging to provide the best possible care for our veterans.”

About DirectTrust
DirectTrust™ is a non-profit, vendor-neutral alliance initially created by and for participants in the Direct community, including Health Information Service Providers (HISPs), Certificate Authorities (CAs), Registration Authorities (RAs), healthcare providers, consumers/patients, and Health IT vendors. DirectTrust serves as a governance forum, trust community, standards organization, and accreditation body for persons and entities engaged in exchange utilizing the Direct Standard™, supported by DirectTrust’s robust security and trust framework. 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 Secure Messaging community. DirectTrust is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the interoperable exchange of health information. To learn more, visit www.directtrust.org.

Media Contact
Ed Emerman
Eagle Public Relations
609.240.2766
[email protected]

View the full Press Release here.

View DirectTrust’s letter to the VA OIG after the initial “Improving VA and Select Community Care Health Information Exchanges” (REPORT # 20-01129-220) report here.

See the letter received in response from the VA OIG about updating the report (REPORT # 20-01129-220) here.