Trust has long been central to the discussion of health information exchange, and to this end, the federal Health IT Policy Committee is laying the groundwork for a "trust fabric" to encourage use of the Nationwide Health Information Network. On Wednesday, the panel's NHIN workgroup will present its final recommendations to the full committee to define trusted HIE over the Internet, a framework of standards and services called NHIN Direct. The subcommittee likely will recommend that public- and private-sector organizations be allowed to monitor trust compliance at different points of data exchange, while making sure that all participants follow HIPAA and state privacy and security rules. FierceHealthIT