Tennessee, non-profit look to improve medical info sharing
The Tennessee Office of eHealth Initiatives and non-profit Qsource have partnered on a new initiative that will allow healthcare professionals to send and receive encrypted electronic medical health information via an email-like system.
The partnership is part of the Tennessee Health eShare Direct Project, a joint statewide initiative to enhance patient care by helping healthcare providers obtain and share important information in faster, more secure ways.
“Direct Technology is an important tool in improving patient care and strengthening the healthcare system across Tennessee,” said George Beckett, HIT coordinator for the State of Tennessee. “It offers secure alternatives to faxing or emailing patient information and allows seamless collaboration among healthcare providers that was previously not possible. It can be set up very easily in healthcare organizations of all sizes and has proven to be as user-friendly as e-mail for most providers.”
The technology was piloted in healthcare communities across Tennessee, including Chattanooga, Memphis and Hickman County this spring.
Along with improving information sharing, Direct Technology helps healthcare providers meet federal standards for sharing patient health information by achieving Meaningful Use Stage 2 requirements.
