Direct pilots: E-mail piece easy, integration takes work

With a number of Direct Project pilots popping up around the country, healthcare providers who want to have the capability to perform simple exchanges can take heart that this is one technology that is straightforward to use, even if it isn't quite "plug-and-play."

The Direct Project is an effort of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to extend health information exchange to individual physicians and small practices who have limited resources and technology assets to meet requirements for meaningful use of electronic health records (EHRs).

It has been designed to "get the simplest, most practical, irreducible level of workable interoperability available as an option," Dr. David Blumenthal, the national health IT coordinator, has said.

Direct is one of the options for sharing information and is a first step onto the escalator for exchange for meaningful use. For many physicians, their electronic health record vendor will incorporate the Direct protocols into their system. Physicians who have established Direct, thus far at least, have reported that implementation was "relatively smooth."