Refer a Patient

Not Necessarily. You may send using any of the transport mechanisms certified for your EHR technology or via an eHealth Exchange participant. While all certified EHR technology must include Direct functionality, there are other options your vendor may have also certified that you can use to exchange with other providers, either point-to-point or through an HIE. It’s best to talk with your vendor about the Transitions of Care options available to you.

A Direct address is needed to exchange health information using Direct. Because Direct is based off of existing e-mail standards, a Direct address looks very similar to an e-mail address. Like e-mail addresses, Direct addresses can be issued to individuals or to organizations, departments, or specific devices. An example of a Direct address is b.wells@direct.aclinic.org. While this may look and function similar to an e-mail address, it is important to know that a traditional e-mail account (e.g. gmail, yahoo mail, or your company e-mail) are NOT Direct addresses. Messages sent to or from traditional e-mail accounts are not secure and will fail to send via Direct. Just like distinct fax numbers you may have today for each of your office affiliations, you or your colleagues may have a distinct Direct address for each practice affiliation. Be sure to verify that you are sending to the correct address for the location where you intend to send patient information.

Direct is a technical standard for exchanging health information between health care entities (e.g. primary care physicians, specialists, hospitals, clinical labs) in a trusted network. It is secure, easy-to-use, inexpensive, and approved for use by nationally-recognized experts and organizations. Direct functions like regular e-mail with additional security measures to ensure that messages are only accessible to the intended recipient, per the protection regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). For Stage 2 Meaningful Use, electronic health record (EHR) vendors are required to either (a) certify their transitions-of-care modules or complete EHR product offerings to include Direct to meet certification requirements, or (b) work with a third party to provide Direct services. The tools your vendor gives you may or may not include the word “Direct,” so it’s important to have a conversation with your vendor to understand the tools available to you in your EHR product.