{"id":8770,"date":"2011-03-21T10:11:43","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T15:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmedicine.org\/epatients\/?p=8770"},"modified":"2011-03-21T10:15:51","modified_gmt":"2011-03-21T15:15:51","slug":"health-it-update-significant-announcement-and-webcast-today-about-the-direct-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/participatorymedicine.org\/epatients\/2011\/03\/health-it-update-significant-announcement-and-webcast-today-about-the-direct-project.html","title":{"rendered":"Health IT update: Significant announcement and webcast today about the Direct Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Readers interested in health IT issues will want to know about today’s webcast at 1:00 ET, and the policy issue described here by\u00a0SPM’s policy chair David Harlow (Twitter @HealthBlawg<\/a>), from the SPM members listserv:<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a significant announcement out from the ONC about the Direct Project today.<\/p>\n

This initiative is short-circuiting the path to EHR (electronic health record) interoperability, and that\u2019s a good thing. \u00a0Secure messaging of patient health data sooner, rather than later.\u00a0 Read more on my blog<\/a> (including links to press release and other resources).<\/p>\n

160 million people will be \u201ccovered\u201d by the Direct Project once every entity that\u2019s signed on as of now gets fully ramped up.<\/p>\n

Interesting stat they keep citing: \u00a0each primary care provider, on average, coordinates care with\u00a0229 doctors across 117 different practices<\/a>, according to a study of patients covered by fee-for-service Medicare.\u00a0 Anything to help with that level of communications complexity will be welcome, I\u2019m sure.<\/p>\n

For more info, there\u2019s a webinar at 1 ET today: http:\/\/www.nationalehealth.org\/NHIN301.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n

———– End of David’s message<\/p>\n

Background on The Direct Project and why it matters:
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Today’s webcast is by Arien Malec, coordinator of the Direct Project at HHS. I’m no expert on the project, so I’ll be listening to that webcast. Here’s my understanding – I’m sure any mistakes will show up in comments!<\/p>\n

The Direct Project is a big deal – in my opinion the biggest deal in history<\/em> for patient-centered health IT and interoperability of our health data. Both of those are essential for patient-centered innovation, which could be an essential enabler of patient engagement.<\/p>\n

Consider the hundreds of physician connections David described above, and consider that nobody gets paid<\/em> for coordinating it. If you’ve ever coordinated care for a child or elder, you know what that means: a mess, and balls getting dropped everywhere. Now, with the Direct Project, it will be easier for you to collect and distribute the information.<\/p>\n

That’s because the Direct Project allows point-to-point (“direct”) communication<\/strong> of your health records, between you and anyone you authorize, without going through a central clearinghouse. That’s a huge enabler of what geeks call “data liquidity” – letting it flow freely, instead of acting like sludge. It was announced last Fall.<\/p>\n

Why it matters:<\/p>\n