The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs joined DirectTrust's Accredited Trust Anchor Bundle Network, which will allow the agency to share protected health information with participating providers.
1. DirectTrust is a healthcare industry alliance that advocates for interoperable exchange of PHI between providers and patients.
2. Under DirectTrust's network, the VA will be able to use its direct messaging system to share veterans' and patients' PHI with hospitals nationwide using the providers' EHRs.
"VA Direct Messaging's participation in the DirectTrust Accredited Trust Anchor Bundle will open significant new opportunities for VA personnel to securely share Veterans' health information through Direct Messaging in every community in the country," Margaret Donahue, MD, director of the VA's Veteran Health Information Exchange, said in a news release. "This is a major step to increase care coordination with community [non-VA] providers who also provide care for our veterans."
3. DirectTrust's network comprises more than 1.8 million providers using over 350 EHRs.