Vendors Adopt Direct Project

Two software vendors have announced products that support the Direct Project, a federally funded initiative that produced free, downloadable secure e-mail software for exchanging clinical information.

Medicity Inc.'s health information technology platform now enables users to exchange data with any provider using Direct-compliant technology. The platform also enables HIEs to offer Health Information Service Provider services to their communities.

As an HISP, a health information exchange can assign and administer a health domain address, similar to an e-mail address, for each provider in the HIE. These providers then can exchange data with any providers or patients registered with a HISP in the nation. State HIEs in Colorado and Ohio will be among the first using the technology.

Ann Arbor, Mich.-based developer UNIVAL Inc. has built a new modular technology platform, called SentryDirect, to use Direct Project secure communication protocols to exchange data between electronic health records systems, data registries and HIEs. EHR vendors Allscripts and NextGen have adopted modules and UNIVAL is developing modules for other EHRs. More information is available at unival-med.com.