The Direct Project - Important Part of HIE

OK, I know I said I would list the 17 Core requirements for MU2 over the next couple of blogs but I found this information about how we are going to be able to exchange Health Info in a secure way. NextGen is one of many vendors who are working on this collaborative project. 

Extracted from the Direct Project Website:

• How the Direct Project Fits with Other Exchanges

  The Direct Project is one part of a broad national strategy to connect healthcare providers through a Nationwide Health Information Network. The Nationwide Health Information Network consists of standards, services, and policies; a group of organizations is already exchanging information using existing components. The Direct Project was created to focus on a subset of the scenarios handled by the Nationwide Health Information Network, and to find a way to make them simpler and more achievable by all healthcare providers. That means that the Direct Project is complementary to other approaches.
  
  Many electronic health records and healthcare information organizations can exchange information today. Some exchanges may already be similar to scenarios covered by the Direct Project, while others may be beyond the Direct Project's scope. An organization is not required to support the Direct Project's services and specifications, but it may choose to do so in order to add to its existing approaches.

Watch this interesting video. It is an hour long but I think it is worth your time to see where Health IT is going ( or hoping to go). It discussed interoperability. It really will be a game changer.

if video does not load click here