Direct Secure Messaging for Public Health Reporting 

Public health agencies still face a persistent challenge: receiving clinical information from providers in a timely, secure, and reliable way. As reporting requirements expand and timelines tighten, many organizations continue to use fragmented, manual, or outdated communication methods that slow response and increase operational risk. This challenge grows even more complex when reporting and coordination span multiple states or jurisdictions.

While long-term interoperability initiatives such as APIs and network participation continue to evolve, public health teams cannot afford to wait. They need solutions that work securely and at scale across a wide range of providers and systems.

Direct Secure Messaging offers a practical, standards-based way to meet immediate public health reporting needs while supporting broader modernization goals.

What is Direct Secure Messaging?  

Direct Secure Messaging (DSM) is a standards-based method for securely exchanging clinical information between healthcare organizations. It enables encrypted, auditable messaging and document exchange between verified healthcare endpoints, ensuring sensitive data reaches the right recipient reliably.

For public health agencies and their networks, DSM offers a ready-now path to improve the timeliness, reliability, and reach of reporting workflows, ensuring data moves efficiently from the point of care to population health systems.

How public health agencies can use Direct Secure Messaging today.

Today, many organizations use Direct Secure Messaging to enable the timely submission of clinical information from providers to public health entities without requiring complex system integrations or real-time data queries.

Public health agencies commonly use Direct Secure Messaging to:

• Receive clinical reports and documents directly from providers.
• Support the timely submission of public health data without manual uploads.
• Enable communication with providers across different EHR systems and technical capabilities.
• Extend connectivity to smaller, rural, or resource-constrained organizations.

In addition, directory-based discovery also helps public health agencies identify and manage trusted Direct addresses, making it easier to communicate with the right providers across different organizations and technical environments.

In practice, DSM enables public health agencies to make immediate improvements to information exchange while remaining flexible as interoperability initiatives evolve.

Why Direct Secure Messaging works for public health reporting.

Public health reporting depends on timely, complete, and trustworthy information, especially when data must move across many organizations. Direct Secure Messaging works for public health reporting by enabling secure, auditable, and consistent information exchange across diverse providers and environments without requiring major system changes.

DSM is effective because it:

• Supports secure, standards-based exchange without requiring major system changes.
• Enables reliable communication across organizations of different sizes and capabilities.
• Provides clear visibility into message delivery and accountability.
• Reduces reliance on manual processes that introduce delay and risk.

For agencies managing reporting across hundreds or thousands of providers, this consistency is critical. DSM ensures information reliably moves from the point of care to public health systems, even across different technologies.

Direct Secure Messaging compared to other interoperability approaches.

Direct Secure Messaging is often discussed alongside APIs, health information networks, and emerging interoperability frameworks, which can create confusion about where it fits. Rather than replacing these approaches, DSM complements them by enabling trusted organizations to quickly send clinical information from one organization to another.

Many modern interoperability initiatives focus on query-based exchange, enabling systems to request and retrieve data on demand. While essential for long-term data access and analytics, these approaches often require significant technical investment, governance alignment, and time to implement across diverse provider environments. As a result, they may not always meet immediate reporting or coordination needs.

Unlike APIs and health information networks, which focus on query-based data access, Direct Secure Messaging supports push-based exchange, making it well suited for time-sensitive public health reporting without waiting for complex system integrations.

The table below clarifies how Direct Secure Messaging fits alongside other common interoperability approaches.

How Direct Secure Messaging bridges today’s public health needs and future interoperability.

As public health organizations work toward more advanced interoperability models, many face the challenge of meeting immediate communication needs while planning for future systems. Direct Secure Messaging provides a practical bridge by enabling secure, standards-based healthcare messaging that works alongside other technologies rather than competing with them.

By supporting secure healthcare communication today, DSM allows agencies to improve reporting and coordination without waiting for full-scale system transformations. This approach helps public health organizations make steady, meaningful progress by using direct messaging healthcare workflows to address current needs while building toward more connected, modern interoperability environments over time.

What to consider when adopting Direct Secure Messaging.

When adopting Direct Secure Messaging, public health agencies should begin by considering how DSM will fit within existing reporting and communication workflows.  

Key considerations include:

• Workflow alignment: Identifying how messages are sent, received, routed, and tracked across teams
• Governance and trust: Managing identities, verified endpoints, and access policies
• Operational visibility: Ensuring staff can monitor message delivery and activity
• Scalability: Supporting growing participation and evolving reporting requirements

Thinking ahead about how DSM aligns with these considerations can help public health organizations meet immediate needs while planning for growth.  

What to look for when choosing a Direct Secure Messaging platform.

When evaluating a Direct Secure Messaging platform, public health agencies should look for solutions that support secure healthcare communication without adding unnecessary complexity.

Important capabilities to look out for include:

• Standards-based, secure direct messaging that supports encrypted, auditable exchange.
• Support for verified healthcare identities and trusted networks, including participation in recognized trust frameworks (such as DirectTrust) where required.
• Clear visibility into message delivery, status, and audit trails to support accountability and compliance.
• Ability to exchange information with a broad range of healthcare partners, regardless of EHR or technical maturity.
• Efficient document handling, including one-click, in-platform viewing of common clinical formats such as C-CDA.
• Alignment with broader interoperability strategies, ensuring DSM complements APIs, networks, and future data exchange initiatives.

Platforms built for public health and network-scale exchange are better positioned to meet today’s reporting needs while supporting long-term modernization.

Orion Health Communicate is designed to support secure, standards‑based Direct Secure Messaging for healthcare organizations, enabling reliable communication across providers, public health agencies, and networks.

Moving forward with Direct Secure Messaging.

As public health agencies continue to modernize how information is shared and acted upon, Direct Secure Messaging offers a practical way to make progress. By supporting secure exchange across a wide range of organizations, DSM helps agencies strengthen reporting and coordination today while maintaining flexibility to adapt while interoperability technology evolves.

Direct Secure Messaging is particularly effective when public health agencies need to receive clinical information quickly, securely, and at scale, such as reports, documents, or files, without waiting for complex system integrations to be established.

Understanding where Direct Secure Messaging fits within a broader interoperability strategy allows public health leaders to take an effective approach to modernization. Rather than viewing DSM as a standalone solution, agencies can use it as part of a layered exchange model that addresses immediate needs and supports long-term goals. In doing so, DSM becomes a foundation for more connected, responsive public health systems across the nation.

Learn more about how Orion Health Communicate supports Direct Secure Messaging for public health reporting and secure healthcare communication.