Four organizations evaluated in interoperable, secure messaging using the Direct protocol
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body, has announced that the first four vendors have achieved its Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Program (DTAAP) designation. The accreditation program assesses an organization based upon the areas of security, privacy and confidentiality, technical and personnel resources, best practices and compliance with the Direct protocol and guidelines.
Cerner Corporation, Informatics Corporation of America (ICA), Max.MD and Surescripts were each accredited for the three unique DTAAP programs, specific for health information service provider (HISP), registration authority (RA) and certificate authority (CA) functions.
Through the specifications and protocols of the Direct Project, HISPs, CAs and RAs are working together to enable healthcare providers to achieve secure health information exchange and comply with Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements by the implementation deadline of January 2014.
In March 2013, DirectTrust was awarded a federal cooperative agreement grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) endorsing the collaboratively developed EHNAC-DirectTrust DTAAP program for the promulgation of industry security and identity compliance with these rules.
“We congratulate these first accredited organizations for their demonstrated excellence in industry standards of health data exchange,” says Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. “We are working collaboratively with our partners at DirectTrust, ONC along with other healthcare stakeholders such as HISPs, CAs and RAs looking to achieve Meaningful Use Stage 2 compliance. It is organizations such as these that are assisting to lead the way toward improving the business of healthcare. We encourage additional interested parties to review the application process for these DTAAP programs.”
EHNAC accreditation recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions, and confirms compliance with industry-established standards and HIPAA regulations. Visit www.ehnac.org for more details or to review the latest EHNAC criteria.