Direct Messaging is secure e-mail for health information. If you decide to adopt Direct Messaging, you will receive a unique Direct Program address (a special e-mail address) from a HISP that you can select from RI REC’s Vendor Marketplace.
You will use this Direct address to securely send e-mails via webmail or your existing mail client (such as Microsoft Outlook or Mac Mail) to other recipients who also have a Direct address. The HISP’s technology performs the necessary encryption, authentication, and trust verification on your behalf.
Using Direct Messaging is simple. As a Direct user, you:
- Log in to your Direct e-mail account and compose a Direct message.
- Attach all the information relevant to the communication, such as a Continuity of Care Document (CCD) exported from your EHR, a summary of care record, notes, or diagnostic images.
- Click Send.
After you click Send:
- Your Direct Message travels to your (the sender’s) HISP, which ensures that the message is routed securely to the authorized recipient. The HISP encrypts the message, authenticates the identity of the sender, and routes the message to the recipient’s HISP. (See diagram.)
- The recipient’s HISP routes the message to the recipient’s Direct Inbox.
- The recipient logs in to his or her Direct account, opens the message, and views all of the information (including your attachments) needed for consultation with the patient.
How Does the Direct Program Work with currentcare?
Eventually, the Direct Program will be used to feed consented patient health information from practice-based EHRs into currentcare. currentcare is a secure electronic network that allows authorized RI healthcare providers to have anywhere, anytime access to their patients’ up-to-date health information and to contribute to the advancement of the quality and coordination of care in this state.