EHNAC to Provide HISP Accreditation Program with DirectTrust.org
Dodge CommunicationsElizabeth Glaser, 770-576-2551
The (EHNAC), a non-profit standards development organization and accrediting body, will partner with to create a national accreditation program for health information “trusted agent” service providers, including health information service providers (HISPs), certificate authorities (CAs) and registration authorities (RAs). Impetus for the initiative comes from the growth of electronic health records, health information exchanges, and programs such as Meaningful Use, which drive interoperability and data sharing among healthcare stakeholders.
Formal accreditation will launch in early 2013, but DirectTrust.org has already begun a testing and recognition program through which a number of HISPs and CAs have self-attested. This work will be integrated into the joint EHNAC/DirectTrust.org program. Criteria have been built on the “Security and Trust Specifications for HISPs, CAs and RAs” document developed by DirectTrust.org. For more details, please visit the .
“The privacy and security of protected health information are critical to the practice of medicine,” says Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. “This accreditation will guarantee that organizations participating in Direct Project initiatives establish and uphold a superior level of trust for their stakeholders.”
“Healthcare professionals have full plates in today’s healthcare environment,” says David C. Kibbe, MD, president and CEO of DirectTrust.org. “They are deeply committed to fulfilling their mission of providing quality care amidst constantly changing regulations. We’re confident this accreditation will remove one layer of concern, by assuring that standards are upheld by the security and trust agents upon whom Direct users depend for standards based inter-vendor communications.”
DirectTrust.org was formed by members within the Direct Project, and was initially known as the Direct ‘Rules of the Road’ Workgroup. The Direct Project was launched in 2010 by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) as a national initiative that specifies Direct as a simple, secure, scalable, standards-based way for participants to send authenticated, encrypted health information directly to known, trusted recipients over the Internet. Adoption of the Direct standard has become an EHR requirement for Stages 2 and 3 of the Meaningful Use incentive program.
The (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include electronic health networks, payers, financial services firms, health information exchanges, medical billers, outsourced services and e-prescribing solution providers.
EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit or contact .
is a non-profit, competitively neutral, self-regulatory entity created by and for participants in the Direct community, including HISPs, CAs and RAs, doctors, patients, and vendors, and supports both provider-to-provider as well as patient-to-provider Direct exchange. The goal of is to develop, promote and, as necessary, help enforce the rules and best practices necessary to maintain security and trust within the Direct community, consistent with the HITECH Act and the governance rules for the NwHIN established by ONC.
is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the Direct exchange of health information. To learn more, visit .