DirectTrust CEO on why direct messaging should replace the fax machine

An increasing number of providers are engaging in health data exchange and are using data exchange services for a variety of use cases, according to the nonprofit association DirectTrust. Case in point: Direct message transactions increased by 63% in 2018 with steady growth in the number of healthcare organizations utilizing Direct exchange over the past year. In all, there were nearly 274 million Direct message transactions between DirectTrust addresses in 2018, a significant increase from the 2017 total of 168 million transactions. There were more than 110 million Direct messages transmitted during the fourth quarter of 2018 alone. In addition, the number of patients involved using Direct increased approximately 35% to nearly 248,000.