DirectTrust Developing Standard For Voluntary National Patient Credential And Matching Ecosystem

The new standard will define electronic interactions among identity providers, electronic health record systems, health information exchanges, health information networks and a record locator service.

DirectTrust has launched an initiative to develop a new standard to support a voluntary nationwide patient credential and matching ecosystem. The goal of the Privacy-Enhancing Health Record Locator Service (PEHRLS) Ecosystem Consensus Body is to identify existing standards, profile existing standards and create new standards as needed for a privacy-enhancing record locator along with the interactions of associated actors. The new standard will define electronic interactions among identity providers, electronic health record systems, health information exchanges, health information networks and a record locator service. Most important, such a model could enable the long-sought-after goal of reliably assembling a longitudinal health record for patients, DirectTrust said.