Direct messaging comes to 6 state HIEs

NASHVILLE, TN | November 5, 2012

ICA, which develops interoperability technology for health information exchange (HIE), announced that it will provide Direct capabilities to clients in six states through its CareAlign Direct messaging tool.

More than 4,000 providers are now taking advantage of Direct technology, via HIEs including Central Illinois Health Information Exchange, Iowa Health Information Network, Kansas Health Information Network, Upper Peninsula Health Information Exchange, New Jersey's Meridian Health Systems and Pennsylvania's Allied Health Information Exchange.

ICA's CareAlign technology helps users take advantage of Direct messaging in a health information services provider (HISP) environment, officials say. It includes full core interoperability function as well as numerous add-on services. Built within ICA’s larger interoperability and informatics framework, CareAlign Direct helps providers start out with Direct and expand to a more complete HIE solution for comprehensive care coordination, they add.

 

"ICA understands that Direct capability is not the final answer to effective clinical communications," said Gary Zegiestowsky, chief executive officer at ICA. Nonetheless, he said, Direct is an "unsurpassed foundation for building a comprehensive care management solution," offering providers a simple and secure way to "communicate clinical data quickly and easily."

CareAlign Direct offers the ability to exchange continuity of care documents and other attachments across multiple care settings, regardless of the electronic health record technology in place, say ICA officials. It also enables the sharing of lab, radiology and other diagnostic data to an extended provider network, and full integration with HISP to enable secure communications with core HISP-to-HISP interoperability.

[See also: Direct Project enjoys growing popularity]

 

Showing 1 Comments

Sue Ann Jantz say: Ha - from Kansas Just cuz we have the tech doesn't mean it works

November 06, 2012 | 10:19 AM GMT

We are one of those state that "has interaoperability" with ICA. They may be a good company, but what happened here was that all the hospitals were asked for a list of their credentialled docs, and then they were put on the user list -- BUT NOBODY TOLD THEM!!!

So there were over 1,000 "users" who weren't actually using this.

Plus, the last I heard, the hospitals who were "interoperable" had maybe only done a test, or not even a test, so that doesn't really count either.

Now, I am in the process (since December 2011) of trying to use secure messaging to send a pdf - that's right, a PDF! - of our order securely to our hospital lab and x-ray, and can't even get that done. This should be like an attachment to an email. We aren't even going to get our reports back through secure messaging because they have these things on automatic fax, and "do you know what that would do to our [hospital's] workflow?!?!?"

That's half or more of the problem - people have auto fax, and they don't want to change. I say, DEATH TO FAX MACHINES!