Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Ensures Adherence to Data Processing Standards and Compliance with Security Infrastructure, Integrity and Trusted Identity Requirements
AUSTIN, TX – August 26, 2015 –
IdenTrust® (Part of HID Global®, a worldwide leader in secure identity solutions), announced today it has achieved full accreditation with the Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Program (DTAAP) for CA and RA from DirectTrust and the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). Direct Trusted Agent accreditation recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions, and ensures compliance with industry-established standards, HIPAA regulations and the Direct Project.
Through the consultative review process, EHNAC evaluated IdenTrust in areas of privacy, security and confidentiality; technical performance; business practices and organizational resources as it relates to Directed exchange participants. In addition, EHNAC reviewed the organization’s process of managing and transferring protected health information and determined that the organization meets or exceeds all EHNAC criteria and industry standards. Through completion of the rigorous accreditation process, the organization demonstrates to its constituents, adherence to strict standards and participation in the comprehensive, objective evaluation of its business.
“Endorsed by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), the Direct Trusted Agent Accreditation Program ensures that organizations like IdenTrust establish and uphold a superior level of trust for their stakeholders,” said Lee Barrett, executive director of EHNAC. “The need in the marketplace for guidance and accountability in health information exchange is undeniable, and we applaud the IdenTrust commitment to the highest standards in privacy, security and confidentiality.”
“We’re very proud to have IdenTrust join the DirectTrust community of secure networks for Health Information Exchange,” said Dr. David C. Kibbe, President and CEO of DirectTrust. “IdenTrust is well known for its identity assurance and management capability and products, and having these available within the healthcare industry in support of secure, interoperable data sharing via the Direct protocol is a major advance. Stronger security in health requires strong identity validation, and with IdenTrust the exchange communities gain the availability of a company with integrity, experience, and excellent value.” Electronic health information exchange (HIE) allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other healthcare providers, and patients to securely access and share a patient’s vital medical information electronically – improving the speed, quality, safety, and cost of patient care. IdenTrust provides a validated identity stored electronically in a digital certificate, which can be used by a wide variety of applications to implement strong security and maintain compliance. Many healthcare customers currently use IdenTrust credentials to submit Electronic Prescriptions for Controlled Substances (EPCS). The accreditation of IdenTrust with DTAAP as both a Certificate Authority and a Registration Authority is a crucial element in enabling a HIE to provide healthcare customers with the required level of security and associated services.
“With the ability to provide digital certificates that are accredited by DirectTrust, IdenTrust can help Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) provide highly secure services to their customers,” said Karen Wendel, President and CEO of IdenTrust. “These services also allow HIEs to demonstrate compliance with applicable regulations. IdenTrust digital certificates are also cross-certified with the U.S. Government Federal Bridge Certification Authority, allowing HIE messages to be relied upon by U.S. Government agencies. We appreciate the organization and support provided by EHNAC in enabling IdenTrust to achieve DTAAP accreditation in a timely manner.”
About IdenTrust
IdenTrust, part of HID Global, is a leader in trusted identity solutions recognized by financial institutions, government agencies, and businesses around the world. IdenTrust offers the only bank-developed identity authentication system and provides a legally and technologically interoperable environment for authenticating and using identities in more than 175 countries. IdenTrust also offers three different U.S. FBCA cross-certified PKI certificates for interoperability and trusted reliance by commercial entities, state and local governments, and the U.S. Federal Government. IdenTrust is part of HID Global, an ASSA ABLOY Group brand. For more information about IdenTrust, visit http://www.IdenTrust.com.
About DirectTrust.org
DirectTrust.org is a non-profit, competitively neutral, self-regulatory entity created by and for participants in the Direct community, including HISPs, CAs and RAs, doctors, patients, and vendors, and supports both provider-to-provider as well as patient-to-provider Direct exchange. The goal of DirectTrust.org is to develop, promote and, as necessary, help enforce the rules and best practices necessary to maintain security and trust within the Direct community, consistent with the HITECH Act and the governance rules for the NwHIN established by ONC.
DirectTrust.org is committed to fostering widespread public confidence in the Direct exchange of health information. To learn more, visit www.directtrust.org.
About EHNAC
The Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC) is a voluntary, self-governing standards development organization (SDO) established to develop standard criteria and accredit organizations that electronically exchange healthcare data. These entities include accountable care organizations, electronic health networks, EPCS vendors, eprescribing solution providers, financial services firms, health information exchanges, health information service providers, management service organizations, medical billers, outsourced service providers, payers, practice management system vendors and third-party administrators.
EHNAC was founded in 1993 and is a tax-exempt 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization. Guided by peer evaluation, the EHNAC accreditation process promotes quality service, innovation, cooperation and open competition in healthcare. To learn more, visit www.ehnac.org, contact [email protected], or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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Press contact information:
HID Global
Anthony Petrucci
Director, Global Public Relations
512-776-9225
[email protected]