MaxMD
Intelligent Interoperability Solutions for Care Coordination

Maintaining patient privacy protection with progressing data-driven clinical research is an ongoing challenge for today’s healthcare organizations. The increased amalgamation of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) into care delivery adds to the pile of complexity. In such a scenario, the Direct Protocol—a National standard that enable secure health information exchange through a simple and scalable approach—acts as an interoperability solution to create a growing trusted network of both healthcare professionals and patients. This is where MaxMD comes in.

The NJ-based, EHNAC-accredited organization delivers swiftly deployed, cost-effective and scalable interoperability solutions via the Direct Protocol and offers multiple configuration options which supports all standard edge protocols. “At the root of all our products and services is strict adherence to security best practices and the technical standards and policy requirements of the Direct Protocol,” states Scott A. Finlay, CEO of MaxMD. Committed to creating sustainable and scalable tools for all the constituencies in the healthcare space, “our tools can be interfaced with virtually any existing Health Information Technology (HIT) application or system.”

As a Health Information Service Provider (HISP), MaxMD features platform compatibility which can be invoked in different combinations to satisfy both interoperability requirements and make data more actionable for end users. “As an example, MaxMD Hosted Direct mdEmail® Version 3.0 is a standalone solution that meets all of the technical and security standards of HIPAA's Security Rule and can be interfaced with an ambulatory EMR through our lightweight APIs to enable EMR users the ability to send or receive Continuity of Care Documents (CCD) or any other structured or unstructured payload,” explains Finlay. Moreover, a provider can also request a customized summary of incoming or outgoing CCD documents by invoking MaxNLP™—a natural language processing engine that enables providers to extract discrete data elements that saves browsing time.

At the root of all our products and services is strict adherence to security best practices and the technical standards and policy requirements of the Direct Protocol

The company also offers DirecText™—a smartphone based text messaging solution that leverages the “trust-in-identity” features of a direct address. Each DirecText™ address is linked to a Direct Secure Messaging address and is interoperable with and federated across the network of participating accredited DirectTrust HISPs. The service is intended to provide a phone or desktop based real-time secure messaging capability that allows for intra-organization or inter-organization care coordination.

The firm has interfaced with several inpatient EMRs that enables the ability to share structured data between disparate systems and different legal entities, while helping hospitals achieve Meaningful Use objectives. In another instance, MaxMD’s HealtheMax™ product was implemented to interface with a hospital’s Lab Information System (LIS). It took the raw output of the LIS, transformed it into HL7, and packaged as a CCD for delivery to an EMR endpoint and simultaneously sent unstructured payload to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) via the Direct Protocol. “Here, HealtheMax™combined with the Direct Protocol acts as a ‘one-to-many interface’ capable of delivering various defined payloads to anyDirect Address,” extols Finlay.

MaxMD stays actively involved with 13 DirectTrust.org National Workgroups—a public-private collaboration solely focused on improving care coordination and interoperability challenges. “The opportunity to work with some of the best minds in security and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology provides us with keen insight on the most efficacious means to address challenges faced by providers and patients alike and that’s what makes us unique.”

In near future, the firm prefers to focus on ‘secure push’ technology. “We do believe that the Direct Protocol has the potential to be used in other regulated industries. In general, the broad movement towards greater security and privacy is a trend that will continue,” concludes Finlay.