EHNAC certifies four vendors in interoperable, secure messaging

The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) has accredited the first vendors through its Direct Trust Agent Accreditation Program (DTAAP), which certifies vendors in best practices using Direct Project protocols for interoperable, secure messaging over the internet, Debra Hopkinson, EHNAC operations vice president, confirmed to Clinical Innovation + Technology.

The vendors— Cerner, Informatics Corporation of America, MaxMD and Surescripts—received national accreditation for registration authority, certificate authority and health information service provider functions for direct exchange of health information. Direct Project specifications and protocols meet a federal requirement for Meaningful Use Stage 2, according to EHNAC.

DTAAP was launched in November 2012, and EHNAC anticipates it will have wide-scale industry adoption by the end of 2013. On April 4, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT announced a cooperative agreement awarding DirectTrust.org and EHNAC for continued development and implementation of DTAAP, among other accreditation programs.