What is the Rhode Island Trust Community?
The Rhode Island Quality Institute has established the Rhode Island Trust Community (RITC)—a community of verified RI providers who have a legitimate need to use Direct messaging to exchange patients’ protected health information (PHI). Membership in the RITC is free; it provides an easier way to manage your contacts and an extra layer of confidence.
How does the RITC work?
The RITC issues Direct certificates to healthcare providers in Rhode Island. The certificates are short pieces of computer code associated with an account that identifies the account as belonging to a legitimate Direct user who is also a verified Rhode Island healthcare provider. The certificates establish and validate senders’ and recipients’ identities; both senders and recipients must have a Direct certificate to exchange Direct messages.
Direct certificates are issued by a trusted third party (a Certificate Authority) after a user has gone through a process to confirm his/her identity and validate a legitimate need to use Direct.
What are the benefits of joining the RITC?
“Community” is the key benefit of the RITC. Within the RITC, critical patient data flows smoothly, allowing RI providers to move beyond the closed networks that can limit data exchange. This efficient data exchange improves patient care coordination between providers; reduces redundancy (eg, fewer duplicate lab tests); and leads to overall better care for patients.
Some specific benefits for RITC participants:
- The RITC verifies that all members are Rhode Island healthcare providers in good standing with the State. If you exchange data with an RITC member, you are assured that he or she has a legitimate need to exchange PHI using Direct.
- To exchange Direct messages, both the sender and recipient must agree to trust each other. They establish that trust relationship by adding each trusted Direct address to a list (a trust store) maintained within their Direct messaging account. An RITC certificate allows you to exchange Direct messages with all other RITC members without maintaining individual trust relationships—an RITC member can trust all other RITC members with a single trust store entry.
- The RITC certificate is free for the first 12 months. RITC members pay only the annual renewal costs, currently approximately $11 per account per year.
How do I join the RITC?
Download and/or electronically complete the RITC Participation Agreement and submit it to the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) with the required documentation. RIQI will review the application and, once approved, work with your HISP to issue the RITC certificate.
To learn more about Direct and RI REC’s Direct Adoption Program, please watch our Direct video. You may also contact us at 888-924-4156 or at directprogram@riqi.org.