Direct Messaging

Description

A simple, secure, scalable, standards-based way for participants to send authenticated, encrypted health information directly to known, trusted recipients over the Internet.

• Similar to email but more secure
• Sender and Receiver need to have a special type of email address called a “direct” address
• Sender and Receiver need to have a Trust Relationship
• Message is encrypted and hashed to prevent unauthorized access

Trust Relationship

A trusted relationship means that either:

• Sender and Receiver have directly exchanged security certificates with each other OR
• Sender and Receiver are both members of the same Trust Bundle

Trust Bundle

Trust bundles have emerged to eliminate the need to set up a one-to-one trust relationship.

• Participation in a Trust Bundle means that every participant has a Trust Relationship with every other participant, without the need to directly exchange security certificates
• DirectTrust is by far the most widely used trust bundle
• Membership in the DirectTrust Trust Bundle requires that at least one user per site go through the DirectTrust Activation process.

DirectTrust Activation Purpose

The purpose of going through the activation process is so that all participants have had their identity validated to the same degree.

• A representative from each practice needs to complete the activation process to validate their identify and relationship to the practice
• The representative needs to be someone with a National Provider ID (e.g. doctor or nurse)