Send a Direct Message

Now that you know how to receive and manage Direct messages from other practices, here's how and when to send them yourself.

1) The first step is to collect Direct addresses for the providers to which you commonly refer patients. Contact them for their Direct addresses and enter each address into the referring physician's entry in Rexpert. (Settings > People and Places > Referring Provider). Alternatively, log into the MD Toolbox site and look providers up in the listing. 
      a) To do this, go to Settings > People and Places > Referring Providers. Select the referring provider you are interested in and press this button: 

     b) This will take you to MD Toolbox. Log in using your username, password, and practice code. (Ask Client Services if you need help finding this information.)

Once logged in, press this button: 

     c) This will open up a screen as though you were going to send a new Direct message. You won't send this one, but we will be able to use the lookup facility to find referring provider addresses.

    d) Leave the To: field blank and ONLY press the little magnifying glass. 

     e) Type in the last name of the provider you're searching for and the state, and a list of matches will appear below. Copy the Direct address into the referring provider table in Rexpert (Settings > People and Places > Referring Provider).

     f)  Note that this search tool is finicky and will not return any more results if you close it after searching. Keep it open through as many provider searches as you can. If it starts returning 0 results, you'll have to log out and start again with the button on the referring provider screen in Rexpert.

2) To send a referral or transition of care by Direct message, go to AuroraEHR - Patient View, select the task Provider Orders/Notes and fill in the referral information. Then press Send CCD via Direct message to open the Direct Message screen. Check the information in the message and hit Send. You, the provider, should do this personally. Your Direct address will be automatically provided in the Sender field, but if any other staff members open the screen, it will be difficult as they are not set up with Direct addresses of their own.

3) For a second way to send a referral or transition of care by Direct message, go to AuroraEHR - Patient View, select an encounter to send a summary of, ensure that all the necessary tasks are completed, and open the Visit Summary task. Every box on the screen needs to be checked to include all the information Meaningful Use requires. Press the Send as Direct Message button to open the Direct Message screen. Again, you, the provider, should be the one opening this screen. Select the referring provider's code, add any comments desired, and press Send. Congratulations, you've sent your first Direct message!

Don't forget to check out the list of benefits of Direct messages we linked to last week. Sending and receiving these Direct messages is not just a chore to do so that you can gain some monetary benefits from Medicare: It is an important step that will directly benefit your practice and improve your patients' standard of care.

Written by Laura Rowe