DirectTrust Experiences Continued Steady Growth in Number of Direct Exchange Users, Addresses and Transactions During First Quarter

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - May 12, 2016) - DirectTrust today announced continued steady growth in the number of Direct exchange users, addresses and transactions. The organization also announced the addition of eight new members since the beginning of the year. DirectTrust is a health care industry alliance created by and for participants in the Direct exchange network used for secure, interoperable exchange of personal health information (PHI) between provider organizations, and between provider and patients, for the purpose of improved coordination of care.

According to end of first quarter 2016 metrics, the number of health care organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in Direct exchange increased 46% to more than 58,000, compared with the same time last year. The number of trusted Direct addresses able to share PHI grew 57% to nearly 1.2 million. There were nearly 20 million Direct exchange transactions in Q1 2016, an increase of more than 350% over the same period a year ago. Direct's nationwide network includes 38 EHNAC-DirectTrust accredited HISPs.

"The DirectTrust network of secure and identity-assured email messaging continues to grow as a valuable national asset for providers of care who need to move their patients' information across the boundaries of health care organization and different IT vendors, to and from anywhere in the country," commented DirectTrust President and CEO David C. Kibbe, MD, MBA. "Extending the usefulness of Direct exchange secure messaging to consumers and patients is the next big challenge, but I anticipate that both the physician and provider community, and their DirectTrust member partners are going to respond in a big way in the coming months."

Since January 1, eight healthcare organizations have joined DirectTrust. They are:

• Azuba, a patient-centric mobile health information network for patient electronic health records
• Digital Medical Solutions, Inc., a provider of ICT solutions and services for medical practices
• Docsnap, a mobile app for patient healthcare and medical records
• Is Doc In, a health services provider
• Olah Healthcare, a medical records and imaging management software and service organization
• Reliant Medical Group (formerly Fallon Clinic), Central Massachusetts' first group medical practice
• Solventus LLC, a provider of web-based EHR software, and recognized industry leader and innovator in continuity of care record technologies, including PHR's and community health record systems
• Uber Operations LLC, a healthcare data integration and information exchange product and service provider

These additions bring DirectTrust's total membership to 146 organizations.

"We're happy to see a diverse group of innovative applications and IT companies, along with large and prestigious provider organizations, as new members in DirectTrust. Physicians are taking a much more active role in deciding how their organizations and their patients use interoperable health information exchange, and that's a very positive development to note," Dr. Kibbe concluded.

Charts detailing results as of the end of the first quarter are available here or by contacting Ed Emerman at eemerman@eaglepr.com or 609 275 5162.

About DirectTrust
DirectTrust is a three-year old, non-profit, competitively neutral, self-regulatory entity created by and for participants in the Direct community, including Health Internet Service Providers (HISPs), Certificate Authorities (CAs), and Registration Authorities (RAs), doctors, patients and vendors, and supports both provider-to-provider as well as patient-to-provider Direct exchange. DirectTrust recently received a Cooperative Agreement Award from ONC as part of the Exemplar HIE Governance Program. DirectTrust serves as a forum and governance body for persons and entities engaged in Directed exchange of electronic health information as part of the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN). DirectTrust's Security and Trust Framework is the basis for the voluntary accreditation of service providers implementing Directed health information exchange. The goal of DirectTrust.org is to develop, promote and, as necessary, help enforce the rules and best practices necessary to maintain security and trust within the Direct community, consistent with the HITECH Act and the governance rules for the NwHIN established by ONC, DirectTrust.org is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the Direct exchange of health information. To learn more, visit www.directtrust.org.